Road deaths – Safety needs a non-stop campaign

It seems that common sense and safety will not co-exist on our roads without the intervention in a major way of Big Brother, in the shape of speed cameras.

That, plus year-round safety campaigns, might help to reduce the appalling numbers of road traffic deaths which so far this year have reached 174 in comparison to 337 for the entire of 2003.

The advice came from former Assistant Police Commissioner of Victoria State, Australia, Ray Shuey, where there was a dramatic decrease in annual road deaths from 776 to 330, since 1989.

They accomplished that by targeting the three major causes of accidents speed, drink and fatigue, but they did so throughout the year. Given that the state of Victoria has about the same population as Ireland, the lessons to be learned are apposite.

Road safety is not just for Christmas or bank holidays, but all the year round and involves the entire community.

Also, Mr Shuey believes that the message has to be delivered around the clock, which means more speed cameras.