There is the question of whether it would be thought advisable or feasible to control that speed for the safety of the public. I am aware, of course, that difficulties arise there. What would be regarded as excessive speed in relation to one type of mechanically propelled vehicle might not be so regarded in relation to other types. The high-powered motor car might not be regarded as going at excessive speed when doing 50 or 60 miles per hour along a straight road, while a small, low-powered car might be regarded as going at excessive speed when doing 40 miles per hour. That is a matter that has to be taken into account, and it is not an easy matter; but I am impressing on the Minister that it is a matter that must be considered.
Above all, the other side of this question must be considered and considered without fail—that is the speed at which motorists are to be allowed to drive in built-up areas. At the present time in most places some motorists seem to fly in and out of built-up areas at whatever speed they like. When I refer to built-up areas, I am not confining myself to cities and sizable towns; I have also in mind villages. Every village in this country should be regarded as a built-up area. I recommend to the Minister that there should be a definite speed limit in built-up areas, say, within a radius of about one mile of the centre of the town or village, as the case may be. That is a matter to which the Minister must give careful consideration when these proposals for the better regulation of traffic on the roads are being considered.
There is also the question of traffic indicators or "trafficators", whatever one likes to call them. I referred briefly on one occasion to that matter. I think it should be made compulsory for every motorist to have a proper traffic indicator attached to his vehicle. We have three methods of traffic communication at the present time. We have the old time-honoured method of putting out one's hand, a method which is, to my mind, out-moded in present day circumstances. Then we have the traffic indicator on both sides of the vehicle and now we have the red light on the rear of the vehicle. Traffic indication is a matter that requires some more careful consideration, because, in my view, there are to-day a good many people who do not appreciate or understand what these red lights are for. These are matters upon which the people should be educated, especially the motoring public. As some of us said on a former occasion here, no matter what regulations are brought in and no matter what legislation we pass, unless the responsible authorities keep the regulations constantly before the public mind, people are liable to forget them.
Some time ago, reference was made to a handbook dealing with the road traffic code. It emerged during the course of the discussion here that many people, even many people in this Seanad, did not realise that there was such a handbook in existence. I mention that as an illustration of the insufficient publicity given to these regulations. I submit that the more publicity there is and the more these matters are brought home to the public mind, the better it will be for the safety and welfare of the users of our roads, both motorists and pedestrians.
The problem of the drunken driver must get special attention in any new traffic legislation. Everybody knows that the drunken driver is a menace to himself and to everybody else. There is a section of the 1953 Act which deals with drivers who drive while under the influence of drink, which I think requires re-examination and, possibly, amendment. The phraseology in it appears to be rather rigid. The words used are that the "person is incapable of exercising effective control." The question arises as to what constitutes effective control, as to what interpretation should be put on these words. Remember, it would be quite possible for a driver to have physical mental control, but to be lacking in fine judgment, in the finesse necessary to make a split second decision. That is an aspect which must be examined in order to deal effectively with the problem of the drunken driver.
There is another aspect of road traffic on which I should like to lay special emphasis. I refer to the situation in which a motorist emerges from a side road on to a main road without looking to left or right. That type of menace has been in evidence in recent times, to my own knowledge. These people emerge headlong, as it were, from side roads. In my opinion, that is a criminal offence, in many ways more criminal perhaps than the offence committed by the drunken driver, because the person who emerges from a side road does so with a full realisation of the seriousness of his action. In any future legislation, we should take special cognisance of the person who shows such disregard for the lives and the safety of the public on our main roads that he emerges headlong, as I said, and does not care what is approaching either on his right or his left side. These drivers are few, I admit, but very dangerous.
I suggest that any person convicted of such an offence should be deprived of his licence for ever. He is not fit to be in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle. The penalties attaching to drunken driving are not sufficiently heavy to deter such drivers at the moment, and I think they should be re-examined. Where a person is convicted of driving a vehicle without being capable of exercising effective control because of having consumed too much alcoholic liquor, he is deprived of his licence for a period of not less than 12 months, plus any fine which may be imposed. That is the minimum penalty. Very often, I think, the minimum punishment is meted out. I submit that the question of what would be the appropriate punishment for people in that category of crime, because a crime it is, must be re-examined by the Minister and the Government in the light of present-day traffic.
I do not want to hold up the Seanad very long on this question, although I hold it is the most important question we could have under discussion here. It is a question on which we could all hold discourse for the next week. However, action speaks louder than words and if we were to be talking for the next month, it would be no use if we had not got an assurance from the Minister, on behalf of the Government, that the appropriate measures dealing with the matter would be no longer delayed.
There is also in relation to this question of road traffic, the menace of wandering animals on the road. I do not know whether it would be appropriate to deal with a matter of that kind in amending legislation, but it is a problem that exists. On the roads of the country to-day, there seems to be less vigilance in regard to wandering animals. These wandering animals, on the main road, or on any road, can be a big menace to any traffic. While we may succeed in drafting the appropriate rules and regulations to govern this matter of road traffic, we must make sure, at the same time, that these regulations are carried out. I am not saying, of course, that the regulations are not being carried out. They are, but in that instance, in the case of wandering animals, there seems to be a relaxation in vigilance. That should not be, because wandering animals present a very serious problem to the users of the road.
I have dwelt at length on this matter—probably at too great a length —but it is, as I said at the outset, a matter in which the people of this country are greatly interested. There has been much controversy, in the public Press and elsewhere, as to what appropriate measures should be taken to safeguard, as much as possible, the lives of people on the road, both the motorists themselves and the general public.
The Minister has given us an indication that we can look forward to appropriate proposals to deal with this most important matter. Before long, therefore, we hope to have an opportunity of further discussing the whole question of road traffic. When the existing regulations, the regulations under which motorists operate, came into existence, nobody foresaw the enormous increase in road traffic that was to take place. The rules that were brought in in those days are now out-moded. The time has come when we should make sure that the uncertainty that exists as regards the road traffic regulations is removed. Any effort to bring discipline to traffic on our roads would be a step in the right direction. A careful examination is needed for the job and definite instructions to the public as to how they are to observe the rules of the road are needed.
Furthermore, together with introducing and passing the necessary regulations, I think it is incumbent on the Government and the authorities to bring home to the people by every method the gravity and seriousness of this whole problem. It is a life and death problem which has to be solved by us, and we should give it, as I have said, our most urgent attention. I hope that the Minister will bear in mind what has been said here, and what has been said on another occasion here, and that, when the Dáil and Seanad reassemble after the summer recess, we shall have the opportunity we have been looking forward to of dealing with this problem in legislative form, or in whatever form the Minister and the Government think necessary.