Martin Kenny
Question:1. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Transport to provide an update on road safety measures being considered and implemented, including a reduction in speed limits. [43058/23]
View answerThursday, 5 October 2023
Questions (1)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
I apologise for my late arrival. There was an accident on the N4 and it delayed things this morning a bit. My question is related to that. It is on the safety measures that are being considered, particularly on the issue of speed controls and so on. I ask the Minister of State if he will make a statement on the matter.
There has been a worrying rise in road fatalities this year, with August the worst month on Irish roads since June 2012. There have been 136 fatalities on our roads this year, an increase of 23 on the same period last year. Almost 850 people have also been seriously injured in collisions. This is unacceptable. My Department, the Road Safety Authority, RSA, An Garda Síochána and other road safety partners are taking this matter seriously and working closely to improve the situation on our roads. The Government’s road safety strategy out to 2030 has the target of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030, and achieving Vision Zero by 2050. The strategy is in its first implementation phase, with close to 200 concrete actions under way to help deliver these targets.
In response to recent trends, I have prioritised certain high-impact actions. We know that speeding increases the likelihood of a collision. My Department recently published the speed limit review, which recommends safer speed limits on certain parts of the network. My officials are working on guidelines and legislation to give effect to these recommendations as soon as possible. At my request, a cross-government group has also considered potential reforms to streamline and strengthen the penalty points system. Emergency legislation is in preparation and I hope that it will be signed into law before Christmas. We are also urgently implementing additional education and awareness campaigns targeting road user behaviour. Options are also being considered for a campaign to encourage fleet owners to install alcohol interlock devices in their vehicles. Another priority is to review the driver testing curriculum to ensure it is fit for purpose and future-proofed. This review will be informed by research into evolving driver behaviour and international best practice to produce recommendations on driver education in Ireland.
Road safety is a foremost priority for me and the Government. Every death is one too many. We know of the life-changing impact that serious injuries can have for victims, families, friends and communities. Everyone is entitled to use our roads and, importantly, to be safe on our roads.
The main issue that many people are looking at in respect of this is the reduction in speed limits on various roads around the country. We certainly need to see that. There is no big opposition to it. However, people are concerned that if the law is not proportionate, it will often not be complied with. We can all recognise this. Many Deputies will know people who were given a speeding fine for being 5 km/h over the speed limit and the camera took a shot of them. Theirs was the only car on a wide open road and they felt this was unfair. The phrase "shooting fish in a barrel" is often used when this happens, yet we see people who drive erratically and extremely dangerously and there does not seem to be the same emphasis on ensuring that they are taken off the road. In my view and in the view of most rational people looking at this, a small minority of people behaving in a very reckless fashion cause a lot of these accidents.
The evidence from the RSA shows that more than a small minority of people are speeding. Unfortunately, that is the case. We know that excessive speed continues to be a leading contributory factor in fatal and serious injury collisions in Ireland. Reducing speed has been fundamentally proven to significantly reduce the risk of death or serious injuries in road collisions. The WHO has estimated that a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions. Furthermore, the evidence shows that 50% of pedestrians struck by a vehicle at 60 km/h would be killed, compared to 29% struck at 50 km/h and 5% struck by a vehicle travelling at 30 km/h. Regarding the speed limit review, we have to change the default speed limits in primary legislation and then the matter will be devolved to local authorities with guidance to implement that in a sequenced manner. It will be for local authorities to take action and to ensure that we have safer speed limits on our roads.
I appreciate that. I understand that the local authorities will examine each particular stretch of road and find an appropriate speed for it. Many stretches of our secondary roads are not safe to travel on at the standard speed limit of 80 km/h. The speed limit needs to be reduced in those cases. We need to see an appropriate means by which this can be done. The local authorities need to examine each stretch of road and adjust the speed limit accordingly. Another aspect of this on many roads, not just country or byroads, is the number of dangerous corners and junctions. Work needs to be done on these. It is not all about ensuring that driver behaviour is right, we also need to ensure that the infrastructure is right and that the roads are safer to use. Every year each local authority applies to the Department seeking funding for safety measures. They usually look for funding for two and sometimes three times the number of projects than they receive. I appeal to the Minister of State that adequate funding be put in place to deal with accident black spots
As the Deputy said, the infrastructure plays a key role in improving road safety. That, complemented with a reduction in speed limits will play an important role in reducing fatalities on our roads. The current default baseline of 80 km/h for local or rural roads is completely out of sync with what the appropriate speed should be on such roads. We welcome constructive input from all Members to try to get the speedy implementation of the legislation by our colleagues and local authorities so this can be quickly progressed in 2024. It would result in a more consistent, safer set of speed limits across our national road network. It will provide a safer baseline in the interests of road safety. I appreciate the Deputy's input on the issue.