Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
195. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the methodology used to calculate road collisions; if it includes data from An Garda Síochána and insurance companies; if other data is included; if near misses are included; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25479/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI would like to start by stating, respectfully, that it would have been helpful if the Deputy could have been clearer about which collisions he is concerned with and for what purposes. There are many types of road collision, from minor incidents causing only slight material damage to incidents in which a number of people are fatally injured. In general, for policy and implementation purposes, it is fatal and serious injury collisions that are of most concern to public authorities.
As the question indicates, the Garda Síochána produces analysis of road traffic collisions (RTCs) arising from their enforcement and public order duties; Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and local authorities do so in their role as road authorities; and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) does so in relation to fatal injury collisions for educational, policy and research purposes.
I understand that the Garda record data in respect of RTCs on PULSE, and that data from PULSE records of collisions are forwarded to the RSA. This data may include Garda opinion in respect of the causation factors.
Each year, the Safety Section of TII carries out a collision analysis of the entire national road network, in compliance with the EU Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) Directive. The purpose of this exercise is to identify locations that have high concentrations of collisions.
The absence of sites from the locations identified in the analysis exercise does not preclude a road authority from submitting a feasibility report to TII for safety improvement works at other locations on the national or secondary road network. For example, there may be additional information available to the road authority or there may be unreported collisions at a location that TII is unaware of.
If a road authority wishes TII to consider proposals it is required to:
- carry out an analysis of the collision history at the location;
- design an appropriate scheme to deal with the safety issues identified;
- carry out an economic appraisal of the proposal;
- fully cost the scheme and prioritise the scheme in relation to other works being proposed by the road authority.
Assessments are carried out by the Safety Section of TII -
- under the HD15 programme, which identifies accident clusters, and
- under the HD17 programme (carried out under the European Directive) involves route assessments
If the Deputy is more interested in precise methodology, perhaps he could specify which body’s work interests him, which categories of collisions he is concerned with, and the relevant policy aspects.
