I will be brief because I have a pretty definitive question to put to the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher. Like many people, I am concerned about the number of deaths on our roads. When I have read about road accidents in newspapers, I have often noticed that one of the vehicles involved has been a truck. I am conscious there have been many tragic accidents involving pedestrians and trucks in recent years. The trucks involved have not necessarily been going that fast. A young woman was tragically killed by a truck in Carrigaline, County Cork, some years ago. I cannot remember the exact details of the accident, but I think she was walking with a child whom she was employed to mind when the child's pram got caught under the truck. She was pulled under the truck and killed, unfortunately, as she tried to save the child. There has been a number of similar accidents involving pedestrians in recent years. Many of the accidents about which I read seem to involve two or more vehicles, one of which is often a truck. I am concerned that many fatalities are caused in such circumstances. It seems to me that trucks are involved in fatal accidents to an exorbitant extent, but we need to analyse the figures in that regard before we make any decisions about the measures which need to be put in place. I understand that the Irish Road Haulage Association has called for legislation to impose additional safety measures on heavy goods vehicles. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response.
Adjournment Matters.
Road Safety.
Before I outline the many measures aimed at trucks, including legislative, regulatory, testing and enforcement measures, which are in place to improve road safety, I will give some statistics relating to collisions and fatalities. There were 334 fatal accidents and 374 fatalities, including 70 pedestrian fatalities, in 2004. There were 23 single vehicle fatal collisions involving goods vehicles and pedestrians in that year. Some 399 people lost their lives on the roads in 2005 and some 77 lives have been lost so far in 2006. As the statistics relating to 2005 and 2006, to date, have not yet been fully analysed, I am not in a position to say how many fatal collisions in those years have involved goods vehicles and pedestrians. An NRA study of the number of kilometres travelled by vehicles in Ireland in 2001 indicated that the average number of kilometres travelled by goods vehicles was significantly higher than the average number travelled by other vehicle types. There is no evidence that heavy goods vehicles are significantly more likely to be involved in road collisions. However, the consequences of a collision with a heavy goods vehicle are generally more severe than the consequences of a collision with a smaller type of vehicle, unfortunately.
National regulations require speed limiters to be fitted to larger goods vehicles and buses so that their speed may not exceed 90 km/h and 100 km/h, respectively. The Minister, Deputy Cullen, recently made regulations to transpose Directive 2002/85/EC, which extends the requirement to have speed limiters fitted to goods vehicles with design gross vehicle weights exceeding 3,500 kg and to all passenger vehicles with more than eight passenger seats. The speed limiters are required to be set so that the speed of such vehicles may not exceed 90 km/h and 100 km/h, respectively. Notwithstanding the requirement to have a speed limiter fitted, goods vehicles with a design gross vehicle weight exceeding 3,500 kg and passenger vehicles with more than eight passenger seats are subject to an ordinary speed limit of 80 km/h, unless the road is subject to a lower speed limit.
In accordance with EU requirements, trucks are required to undergo roadworthiness tests when they are one year old and annually thereafter. EU Directive 2000/30/EC, which deals with random roadside inspections of vehicles, requires member states to put in place a targeted system for the roadworthiness testing of heavy goods vehicles and buses at the roadside, to supplement the annual roadworthiness test which is carried out on such vehicles. The directive, which has been transposed into Irish law, requires the stopping of a significant number of such vehicles at random, checking for the annual roadworthiness certificate and carrying out checks on specified items, including brakes, emissions, tyres, lights, tachographs and speed limiters. The Department of Transport is actively engaged in augmenting the vehicle tester resources available to increase activity in this area.
EU law on maximum weights and dimensions for vehicles is set out in Directive 1996/53/EC. Under that directive, which has been fully implemented by Ireland, a member state may not prohibit the use in its territory of vehicles from another member state which comply with the authorised maximum weight and dimension limits set down in the directive. Vehicles which exceed the specified weights and dimensions, such as vehicles used for the transport of abnormal loads, require permits to operate on public roads. Such permits, which are issued by local authorities, may include limitations aimed to prevent unnecessary damage to public roads or which after consultation with the Garda they consider expedient to protect other road users.
EU Directive 7l/320/EEC, as amended by Directive 98/l2/EC, lays down braking standards for type-approval of vehicles, including standards for anti-lock braking systems for large buses and lorries. While the standards are not mandatory for buses and lorries, the Minister is considering transposing the directive for such vehicles to make it a requirement that new vehicles of this kind registered here would be required to have anti-lock braking systems, in accordance with the directive. My Department is currently in consultation with the Society of the Irish Motor Industry on the matter.
The issue of blind spots in heavy goods vehicles has been much discussed of late. Directive 2003/97 lays down new standards for the type of approval of certain categories of vehicles, particularly lorries, regarding the field of vision of drivers and it requires that all new lorries meet the new standards from 26 January 2007. The directive, which has been transposed into Irish law, harmonises the rules relating to the type-approval of devices for indirect vision on motor vehicles and of vehicles equipped with these devices. It provides, inter alia, for an extension of the field of vision to address the issue of blind spots. These enhanced requirements should lead to a reduction in fatalities and serious injuries involving pedestrians and cyclists due to the driver’s inadequate field of vision.
In April 2005, the Irish Road Haulage Association, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation were requested to consider advising their members to retrofit vehicles with blind spot mirrors or indirect vision devices. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry was also asked to ensure, in advance of the deadline for new vehicles on 26 January 2007, that all new HGVs put on the market meet the higher standards required by Directive 2003/97/EC. The Irish Road Haulage Association responded positively, indicating that for the past number of years it has actively encouraged its members to fit convex mirrors to their vehicles and to request these when acquiring new vehicles. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry informed me that it received a very positive response from vehicle distributors to the request for early implementation of the directive and it anticipates that by the end of March 2006, up to 80% of new vehicles of the relevant categories will meet the requirements of the directive.