Slowing down can’t be for just one day

Yesterday was designated National Slow Down Day, a joint operation by the gardaí and Road Safety Authority, as Friday is one of the worst days for accidents on our roads.

Nearly 20% of fatalities occur on Fridays, and of these, 28% occur between 2pm and 6pm. Therefore, the campaign was aimed at increasing driver awareness of the periods of highest road risk.

That makes perfect sense but it might make even more sense to have a National Slow Down Weekend to encourage motorists to use a light foot on the accelerator after the working week as statistics show that it is at the weekend that many fatalities occur.

That is particularly true of bank holiday weekends when an air of revelry pervades and the normal caution taken by drivers appears to be absent.

Leo Varadkar, the transport minister, acknowledged as much, declaring: “There is always a risk associated with driving at the weekend, but bank holiday weekends are riskier still.”

There has been a year-on-year decrease in the number of road fatalities in Ireland over the past six years, but as of yesterday, there were 13 more fatalities on Irish roads than at this time last year, bringing the number of people killed in road traffic collisions this year to 153.

This is still a huge improvement on other years. For example, back in 2007, a staggering 340 people lost their lives on Irish roads.

Cork is by far the worst county in Ireland in terms of road fatalities. Figures released by the RSA show that 21 people lost their lives on Cork roads in 2012, compared with 12 in Dublin, which has a much higher number of car owners. Galway was next, with 18 people dying in road accidents, which suggests that it is the narrow country roads that are still the most dangerous, while the motorways are by far the safest.

Part of the Garda’s safety thrust is the issuing of speeding fines and the use of cameras. Figures have revealed that nearly 140,000 fixed charge notices have been issued for speeding from January to September this year.

However, there is still a strong perception among motorists that there is a reduced presence of Garda patrols on the roads of late.

The very presence of a Garda patrol car can go a long way to changing the attitude of errant motorists and make them slow down.

A poll conducted earlier this year by the Automobile Association revealed that 40% of motorists think the Government is not treating road safety as a priority.

The AA study also showed that almost three-quarters of motorists believe that the Garda presence on our roads has reduced since last year. The poll of over 20,300 motorists revealed that just 8.5% of people think the presence is the same or has increased while almost 72% said it was less than last year.

Whether or not that is the actual case may not matter too much. When it comes to road behaviour, perception matters as much as reality. If motorists believe they can drive with impunity, the chances are that they will defy the speed limits, putting themselves and other road users in peril.

Behind every road deaths statistic, there is a lifetime of heartache and pain for the families of those who died. That is why speed cameras are not enough. Real gardaí in real uniforms in real patrol cars are essential to continue the drive for safer roads.