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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 6 Dec 2001

Vol. 546 No. 1

Written Answers. - Road Safety.

Brendan Howlin

Question:

61 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of children killed in road accidents in each of the past five years; the steps being taken to deal with the high level of child deaths from accidents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31111/01]

Statistics regarding the number of road accidents are published by the National Roads Authority in its annual road accident facts reports. The reports, which are compiled from information supplied by the Garda Síochána, are available in the Oireachtas Library.

The following table gives details of the number of children under the age of 15 killed in road accidents from 1996 to 2000, the latest year for which figures are available.

Year

Number of people under the age of 15 years killed in Road Accidents

1996

25

1997

27

1998

34

1999

23

2000

22

The need for children to develop good road safety habits at the earliest possible age was recognised in the Government Strategy for Road Safety 1998-2002. In the second progress report issued in July 2000 on the Government Strategy for Road Safety 1998-2002, the high level group on road safety recommended that vulnerable road users, including children, be added as a further area of focus for the strategy and additional measures and resources should be directed at this new target area.
The National Safety Council was assigned the lead role by the Government strategy for road safety for the development of a resource pack on road safety for input into the social, personal, health and education programme in the new primary school curriculum. The resource pack, Be Safe, was launched in September 2000 and more than 30,000 copies of the pack have been distributed to primary school teachers, principals and boards of management.
The NSC has also developed a secondary school transition year resource project on road safety. This resource was pilot tested in 20 secondary schools throughout the country and was launched on 10 September 2001. It will complement existing activities in secondary schools.
Question No. 62 answered with Question No. 21.

Pat Rabbitte

Question:

63 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the steps being taken to address the dangers faced by cyclists, especially from heavy goods vehicles, having regard to the fact that 15 of the 20 cyclists killed in Dublin in the past six years died in collisions with such vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31124/01]

The need for a particular focus on vulnerable road users, including cyclists, was a specific recommendation of the high level group on road safety in its second progress report on the Government strategy for road safety.

The annual road accident facts report prepared by the National Roads Authority reveals that in the last six years 119 cyclists have died as a result of traffic accidents, of which 37 were killed in Dublin. In 2000, the number of cyclists killed was ten which is the lowest number of fatalities reported in 40 years and comprises just 2.4% of all fatalities compared to 8% a decade ago. Of these ten fatalities, I understand five were in respect of accidents involving goods vehicles with two of those occurring in Dublin.
My Department, in association with the Dublin Transportation Office, DTO, has published a design manual for cycle facilities entitled,Provision of Cycle Facilities – National Manual for Urban Areas, March 1998, which was circulated to all local authorities. The manual is intended to assist local authorities to provide cycle facilities to a uniform and high standard. Ensuring the safety of cyclists was an important consideration in developing the manual, which drew on international practice, particularly from the Netherlands and the UK.
The manual sets out comprehensive guidelines for the design and provision of cycle facilities, specifically addresses the need for continuity in relation to cycle facilities and shows examples where this can be achieved with particular reference to the question of continuity through junctions and at pinch points. The DTO is now reviewing the cycle manual in the light of experience since 1998. All of the reports mentioned are available in the Oireachtas Library.
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