Road deaths - Steady drive needed on road safety

SPIRALLING road carnage in the Republic is in stark contrast to the latest statistics from Northern Ireland, which reflect the lowest death toll there in over half a century.

To its shame, the Republic of Ireland is the only state in Europe where road deaths are on the increase.

The Government’s collective handling of this grave issue is so inept that it has been accused of criminal negligence - a damning charge levelled by Eddie Shaw, former chairman of the National Safety Council. Disillusioned, he resigned that post in protest over the Coalition’s mealy-mouthed performance in tackling road carnage.

Sadly, 399 people died on our roads last year, a depressing increase on previous years and the worst death toll since 2001, when 411 people were killed. With 2006 hardly a week old, there have already been five fatalities.

Given the North’s reduction in road deaths, the lowest since 1952, serious questions must be asked about the situation in the Republic.

Despite their milestone achievement, the authorities in the North are emphatic that the relatively low toll of 136 fatalities is still far too high.

Improving road safety north of the Border is regarded as ‘a major policing priority’, which is set to benefit in 2006 from a two-track approach using education backed by robust enforcement. By no stretch of the imagination, however, could road safety-related enforcement in the Republic be described as robust.

Admittedly, the latest figures released by the gardaí show the number of arrests for suspected drink driving in the run-up to Christmas were up significantly on the same period in 2004 - with 1,300 arrested on suspicion of drink driving in the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day.

But the fact that the garda blitz is due to end on Sunday will encourage would-be drink drivers, who persist in behaving anti-socially and putting lives at risk.

According to garda estimates, one-third of all fatal road accidents are drink-related. That puts a heavy onus on the Government to provide whatever resources may be necessary for the robust policing of drink driving, as well as speeding.

It goes without saying that many deaths are attributable to driver behaviour, but it is equally true that the behaviour of motorists is influenced by how Government policies are enforced.

There is no denying that many deaths could have been avoided if the penalty points system was enforced more aggressively by gardai, if random breath testing was introduced, if drink driving was stamped out and if a nationwide network of speed cameras was operational - the list goes on and on.

Unless the Government is more forceful in tackling this crisis, Ireland’s appalling record of road carnage will persist.

The Coalition’s record on road safety is so lacklustre that Eddie Shaw has accused the Government of being more interested in treating road safety as a political football than in saving lives. That is a penetrating comment.

Behind the long shadow cast by the cold columns of statistics, there is an overwhelming sense of personal tragedy. As grieving families mourn the untimely deaths of loved ones, the Government must accept a large measure of blame for failing to make our roads safer.

Yet, everybody has a personal part to play in reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our roads in 2006. As the North’s Environment Minister succinctly put it: “If we all accept this personal responsibility then together we will save lives.”