Vol. 492 No. 3
8 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has received the report of the high level group on road safety; when the report will be published; when he expects to bring proposals to Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13773/98]
I refer to the reply to Priority Questions Nos. 1 and 2 on today's Order Paper, which we discussed earlier.
Is the Minister aware that up to 10 per cent road accidents involve foreign drivers? Will he provide funding to county councils to erect signs to warn foreign drivers that they must drive on the left hand side of the road? Will he also clarify if regulations were issued to county councils on the design of signs, but funding was not provided? Has the Minister advised the car rental industry to provide warning devices in cars to highlight that foreign drivers must drive on the left side of the road?
Responsibility for providing signs on national roads rests with the National Roads Authority and in the case of non-national roads it rests with the local authority. A multilingual road traffic sign was introduced in 1996 to warn drivers of the requirement to drive on the left side of the road. This was designed for use mainly at exits from ports, airports and in areas of high tourist amenity. I saw some of those signs on a recent visit to Wexford, in Galway and elsewhere. The roads authority is responsible for the provision of those signs and funding comes out of the general funding for roads. From the information available to me, County Cork, Killarney, the Dublin to Wexford road and Dublin Airport are particularly well signposted in that regard.
I specifically raised this matter at a meeting with city and county managers last week and asked them to ensure these signs are erected in sufficient quantities as quickly as possible. I am aware of one or two tragic accidents caused by tourists driving on the wrong side of the road. In addition, the National Safety Council circulates an information leaflet on traffic rules for tourists in English, French and German. While this includes various information, it emphasises the importance of driving on the left side of the road. There is ongoing contact with the Automobile Association to ensure it also gets the message across to drivers.
The Minister informed the House that the high level group on road safety last met on 13 February. In the context of the genuine concern expressed in the House about this matter, is he concerned that the high level group on road safety has not met for four months?
It would be unfair to give the impression that nothing has been done since the high level group met on 13 February. As I explained in reply to earlier questions on this matter, it was agreed at that meeting that when the Department considered all submissions on the matter, it would progress the drafting of a strategy based on the work of the high level group and the sub-level group. That task is nearly completed. I am satisfied that work is continuing to finalise this and I would prefer if the job was done well rather than quickly. It is worth noting that in tandem with what is being done by that strategy, group Operation Lifesaver continues. There has been a 50 per cent increase in the money provided for the National Safety Council, extra money has been provided for national and non-national roads and the NRA has made more money available than ever before for improving black spots on national roads. It would be unfair to the high level group to give the impression that nothing is happening. I expect the report within a matter of weeks.
I accept the Minister's position on the NRA providing funding in locations where there is a large number of tourists, but is he aware there are only two signs on the two main roads to the west, the roads to Galway and Westport? One sign is provided by the NRA and the other by a family as a result of a tragedy. Is the Minister aware that in the past three years there have been four deaths and six people have received serious injuries within three miles of my home as a result of foreign drivers who were at fault? Why can we not provide signs in areas through which tourists pass? What discussions has the Department had with the car rental industry on providing warning signs? The car rental industry is not inclined to provide these signs and to take the initiative on this matter.
What are the Minister's intentions as regards the introduction of a maximum speed limit of 15 to 20 miles per hour in residential areas? I raised this question before by way of a parliamentary question and the Minister referred to traffic calming measures being undertaken. Traffic calming measures are not changing driver attitudes but are costing much money and are extremely contentious in local areas. The entire urban area seems to be covered by mini pyramids. The obvious way to proceed is to provide for a lower maximum speed limit in residential areas given the speed of drivers in urban areas.
Car hire companies are cooperating with the Department, the AA and the National Safety Council in the efforts to get the message on driving on the left side of the road across. The National Safety Council developed a multi-lingual dashboard sticker which reminds tourists to drive on the left and to wear a seat belt. That sticker continues to be distributed by car hire companies and I understand they may also be distributing the leaflet to which I referred earlier.
I take Deputy Mitchell's point on reducing speed limits and on ramps. If people will not slow down even when they see ramps or children, will they slow down if they see a sign which says 15 miles per hour? I very much doubt it. Unfortunately, we are dealing with people's attitudes and it seems to be impossible to get the message across to them. Reducing speed limits to 15 or 30 miles per hour would mean more people breaking the law. It is better to have a realistic speed limit and try to ensure its enforcement rather than reducing the speed limit by so much that everybody will disregard it. That is what will happen if we reduce the limit to those low levels, desirable as it would be.
Very often we are talking about reducing speed limits in residential areas yet the people driving at 30 or 40 miles per hour are the residents of the area in which they know there are children. This has more to do with changing attitudes than speed limits. People will have to take this matter more seriously. It is a little like litter—
Changing legislation changes attitudes.
I am not sure it would in this case.
