Road deaths - Words aren’t enough to end carnage

YESTERDAY’S emergency Government meeting on the carnage on Ireland’s roads was little more than a PR stunt.

This charge, levelled by the Insurance Federation, is valid enough given the Coalition’s failure to honour its election promise to beef up the garda force.

Instead, cutbacks have undermined the national road safety campaign.

The meeting was called by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan after a particularly black weekend this month when 11 people died in crashes. But it will be a sterile exercise unless he convinces Government to give the gardaí adequate resources.

As an immediate measure, speed traps should be concentrated at black-spots on country roads where the carnage happens and not in urban areas where few fatal accidents occur.

Gardaí must also enforce the penalty points system which is increasingly ignored by drivers and losing impact. A visible garda presence on the roads all year round, and not just at weekends and on bank holidays, is also vital.

The grim reality is that so far this 292 people have died on Ireland’s roads, 50 more than this time last year and the toll is rising. The public wants action not government promises.