Specialist garda driving training vital

The accident involving three gardaí in a patrol car near Loughlinstown on Sunday night prompts some serious questions.

The car was not involved in a chase. It was travelling north on the N11 dual carriageway, when it went off the road, through the median hedge, and turned over a number of times before coming to rest on the carriageway going in the opposite direction.

The three occupants, who included a student garda, had to be cut from the wreckage. They were seriously hurt, but their injuries are not life-threatening.

There was speculation that ice on the road may have led to the accident. While it is still much too early to determine the actual cause of that specific accident, the number of other accidents involving garda cars raises questions about the level of specialist driving training in the force.

Last year, there were 223 accidents involving garda cars, which compared to 81 the previous year. Those figures, which amount to an increase of more than 275%, should have set alarm bells ringing.

In 86 of last year’s accidents, the gardaí were found to have been at fault, which was more than one-third of the accidents. That was also almost four times the 22 accidents for which gardaí were held responsible in 2001.

Garda Representatives Association president Michael Kirby noted that enough resources are not being made available for specialist training.

There is a big backlog of applications among garda drivers for such training, with the result that the majority of gardaí are currently driving patrols cars without specialist training.

All they require is a clean, full driver’s licence and the authorisation of a chief superintendent.

If this is the result of budgetary cutbacks, it is absolutely crazy, because it is a false economy.

The damage to garda cars alone cost €400,000 last year, which was minor in comparison with other costs. For instance, the compensation and legal costs paid as a result of accidents involving garda vehicles came to €3.2 million in 2002.

It is grossly unfair to gardaí and everyone else to have drivers in charge of patrol cars who have not had specialised training.

This poses a reckless danger not only to themselves but to everyone else.

An untrained driver who becomes involved in a high-speed chase, is a menace not only to himself and his colleagues but also to any innocent member of the public who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Must we wait for some horrific accident involving the public before anything is done to rectify this outrageous situation? This is a disaster just waiting to happen.