Conor Faughnan: A record year for road deaths due to political indifference

Ireland had made significant progress in terms of road safety but policies we knew were working have faltered for want of support 

Flashback to 1999 and Garda Peter Sheehan on duty with Gatso in Limerick. The then 'traffic corps', now the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau, has been allowed wither and is now chronically under-strength. File picture: Press 22

Every time there is a road safety crisis, the minister of the day comes up with a new law. It is almost a standard response because it says that they care and are doing something about it.

The awful tally of deaths during August shocked the country but in truth, road safety has been slipping backwards for some time.