Vol. 399 No. 5
16 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment if his Department or the Environment Research Unit have carried out an assessment of the economic cost of road traffic accidents; and if so, the estimated annual cost of such accidents.
The Environmental Research Unit carry out a general assessment annually of the cost, on certain general assumptions, of road accidents to society in this country in connection with its publication of road accident facts.
In 1988 this cost was assessed at £500 million.
Will the Minister agree that certain failures by his Department contribute to the enormous cost of road accidents? I will give two examples. One is that there is not enough money available to local authorities for the maintenance and upkeep of roads, and the second is the inordinate waiting list of people applying to do their driving test. This may well result in people who are not qualified to drive doing so.
The Deputy is aware that we are spending approximately £215 million on road improvements this year, which is a big increase on previous allocations in this area. The sum of £500 million has been assessed under new methodology which came into effect because of OECD observations. The new method has also been adopted by the UK. Before this it was done on an estimation of lost output, medical and legal costs and a notional sum to take account of suffering involved. If that criteria had been applied the sum would have been halved but I agree that it is too much.
I am distressed about the waiting list for driving tests and I am trying to do something about it. I have made a proposal in that regard and I am trying to finally settle the matter with the interested parties. It is not easy but it is my intention to do so and we can then clear the backlog within 12 months. I want to get to the stage where people who apply for a driving test will get it within a month. That is my aim and objective and, if I get co-operation from all sides, it can be achieved pretty quickly.
Will the Minister not agree that, apart from the tragic personal injuries and deaths caused by traffic accidents which are of major concern, the economic cost also demands that there should be a new policy by the Government to put together a coherent plan to tackle the number of road accidents? In the context of such a plan, will the Minister agree that the time has come to provide automatic testing for vehicles which have been on the road for five years or more and to introduce legislation to provide for the compulsory wearing of seat belts for passengers on the back seats of cars, not just in the front? Will the Minister confirm that he is aware that research abroad indicated that the compulsory wearing of seat belts in the back seats of cars substantially reduces injuries suffered in traffic accidents?
I share the Deputy's concern so far as road accidents are concerned. It is a very big economic disadvantage, apart from the personal trauma which accidents create for families. The question of seat belts is the subject matter of another question on the Order Paper——
We will not reach it.
I share the Deputy's view that we must take more care. A campaign will be mounted this year and I will direct that it should include the use of seat belts by a greater percentage of the population because we have a very bad record of compliance in this regard compared to our European partners.
What about the testing of cars?
The question of testing cars is ongoing. It has not been possible to implement it yet but it is inevitable that it will come about eventually.
There would be an overall cost saving.
I want to bring in other Deputies.
We have had discussions about it which were not conclusive, but I take the Deputy's point of view.
Would the Minister agree that the research undertaken by his Department — or the independent studies undertaken — show that at least up to 80 per cent of all traffic accidents are caused by human error? Therefore, would he not consider it advisable that persons applying for provisional driving licences be required to undergo some form of preliminary test before being granted such licences?
I cannot confirm the percentage to which the Deputy referred but I am quite sure it is very high. I would like to go down the road Deputy Gilmore recommended, that is that we should clear this backlog of driving test applications as speedily as possible. If we could get that backlog out of the way once and for all, so that people could undergo a driving test within a matter of a couple of weeks from the date of application, we could then consider very many options for improving the position dramatically. There are sufficient staff in the driving testing division — along with the new recruits in the recent past — to deal with all applications received on a day-to-day basis. I must stress that it is the backlog obtaining which is crippling the system and which amounts to some 50,000 applicants at this time. There is no way we can get rid of that backlog without receiving outside assistance. I have proposed how that could be done correctly, efficiently and in accordance with the highest standards. It is a matter of getting all interested parties — the unions and others involved — to sit down and agree the process. I am hoping that can be done.
Would the Minister agree that spending another £215 million on roads — if I heard him correctly — is not the answer, rather that the answer is a larger investment in public transport, particularly in urban areas?
Were I to go down that road I would be attacked by all and sundry for not providing sufficient money to bring our roads up to a proper standard. Deputy Garland will have heard Deputy O'Keeffe speak earlier about the standard he would like to see apply to road construction in provincial areas. Then there are the demands in this city for better road networks and better circulation of traffic. One can do only what is feasible within the allocations obtaining. We are spending a lot of money endeavouring to get the road network around Dublin right; we are endeavouring to get our major national arteries correct so that we can gain from the advantage of competitiveness in the open market that will be upon us in a couple of years. Therefore, we have to commit large sums to that purpose. I accept that 92 per cent of the road network is comprised of roads, other than national primaries, and encompasses enormous mileage. Although there are fewer than one million taxpayers in this country, everybody calls for us to have roads equivalent to those in other European countries and elsewhere, where there is an enormous surplus of tax revenue. One immediately realises that such objectives are not possible overnight here, but we have an objective we would like to reach and are doing the best we can. I would have to say that the Government have been reasonably generous with me, in tight economic circumstances, in giving a great deal more money to the improvement of our roads network — granted to accommodate the Structural Funds requirement as well, but, at the same time, the additionality has been there and must be recognised.
Would the Minister accept that local authorities attempting to introduce road safety measures — whether that be ramping of roads, painting double yellow lines or whatever — encounter two difficulties at present: first, that the procedures to be followed to achieve road safety measures are lengthy and cumbersome and, second, there is a shortage of the necessary resources to put them into effect? Would the Minister give the House an undertaking to examine those two areas in view of the very high cost to the country of road accidents?
I would be favourably disposed to examining matters in any way that would improve overall road safety. Certainly I will bring the matters raised to the attention of the relevant section of my Department. I would ask the National Road Safety Association to be as generous as possible in their campaign later this year. I know they intend having a major campaign, and I will ask them to include the seat belt aspect to which Deputy Shatter referred as a major element of that campaign.
