Road safety - Extra speed cameras are just a start

Any initiative to make our roads safer by reducing the appalling carnage committed on them is to be welcomed, such as the intention to inhibit speeding as announced yesterday in relation to speed cameras.

The Government plans to privatise the operation of speed cameras and locate more of them throughout the country, especially at sites with a history of frequent accidents.

Cameras of themselves will not be the panacea to reduce the intolerable toll of road deaths but they should be an important factor in striving to achieve that objective.

Although the speed cameras strategy will be privatised, the overall operational responsibility will be in the hands of the gardaí and it is important that it should be.

Cynically, some drivers may view the news with scepticism as merely another revenue earner from the already hard-pressed motorist, especially as it is projected to bring in about €70 million annually in charges from motorists, and additional revenue from court fines.

The Government has already moved to dispel such a notion. It was specific in insisting that the priority for the cameras will be accident prevention rather than revenue generation which may be a convoluted way of admitting that previous initiatives may have been misdirected in their priority.

Last week the Cabinet approved the move after consulting with a working group comprised of the Departments of Justice and Transport, An Garda Síochána and the National Roads Authority.

What emerged was a decision to place 600 cameras in positions around the country, some in high-visibility locations and others where they will not be obvious.

It is arguable that the cameras, because they are intended to be deterrents, should all be visible wherever they are located, which would bolster the Government's insistence that they are intended to be preventative rather than revenue earners.

What cannot, and should not, be forgotten is the aim outlined by Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Transport Minister Martin Cullen in their joint launch yesterday. The cameras are an effort to cut the number of deaths and injuries on the road. It was appropriate that it was made on over the course of a bank holiday, because it is a time when road accidents invariably increase dramatically.

The point was also made by Mr McDowell that the initiative will release garda resources to concentrate their enforcement efforts on other motoring offences which cause death and destruction on our roads, such as drink driving.

No better deterrent would be the knowledge that the gardaí are actually on the roads engaged in enforcement duties, but unfortunately this may only be true at busy times like bank holidays and Christmas.

Road safety is, or should be, a concern all the year round, not just on the major occasions.