With your permission, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 84, 85 and 86 together.
I am of opinion that accidents arising at night out of collisions with parked vehicles are due more to failure to observe the existing law than to defects in the law itself. The law at present requires that every motor vehicle, except a motor cycle, which is on a road at night must, whether moving or stationary, be equipped with two white front lights and one red rear light. All the lights must be duly lit and in such efficient condition that they are visible from a reasonable distance. Furthermore, it is an offence to leave a vehicle stationary on any road at any point less than 100 ft. from a curve or gradient which might have the effect of concealing the vehicle from other road users, or to park it otherwise than on the left hand side of the road during lighting-up hours. The enforcement of these provisions is a matter for the Garda Síochána, and in this connection I understand that the Commissioner has recently circularised all Garda stations as to the need for stringent enforcement of the lighting regulations.
In order to impress on the public how serious it is to leave a vehicle on a road at night where it may cause an accident, it is proposed to create in the Road Traffic Bill a further offence of parking unlit at night-time in such a way as to cause danger to the public and to provide a stiff penalty for such an offence.
While, as I have said, the existing lighting regulations, if observed, would reduce considerably accidents of the type mentioned by the Deputies, I am satisfied that the present regulations need to be reviewed in the light of developments in traffic and vehicle construction. This review is in hands in my Department as part of a general review of vehicle regulations. Account is being taken of the studies at present conducted by a number of international organisations on the problems involved. My hope is that, shortly after the Road Traffic Bill becomes law, the new regulations will be ready.