Deaths from crashes on Irish roads have surpassed the 100 mark this year, up on the figure for this time last year. That’s in spite of all the road safety campaigns, awareness programmes, GoSafe vans and other speed enforcement measures by An Garda Siochana. Nothing seems to be working and in the meantime the carnage continues.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has just launched a new campaign of advertisements in its latest effort to raise awareness of dangerous behaviours on Irish roads, such as speeding, drink driving, distracted driving, not wearing seatbelts and drug driving.
The ads, we’re told, are specifically designed around insights gleaned from younger men who drive on rural roads to ensure that they are relevant to that sub-audience.
The Department of Transport has welcomed the campaign which they say complements the important measures introduced earlier this year by the Road Traffic Act 2024. The Act seeks to target the most dangerous driving behaviours through harsher penalties, safer speed limits and mandatory roadside drug testing for drivers involved in serious collisions.
Last year, 2023, the RSA ran another campaign asking all road users for their support in changing their behaviour to make Irish roads safer. They were encouraging people to “have a conversation with friends, family members and colleagues” and to “look at their own behaviour and commit to making one positive change that would contribute to safer roads”.
These campaigns are well intentioned, but do they achieve anything? The messages are important, but do they actually reach their target audience? If they do, are they having any impact? The fact that road deaths are increasing would suggest not. I’ve heard some of these ads and I think they are amateurish to be honest. I can’t see them having much of an impact so what next?
Well, the garda commissioner said he wants to increase the punishment for bad driving. He says consideration should be given to graduated fines to ensure drivers travelling at higher speeds are more severely punished. Mr. Harris said the introduction of a graduated penalty point system in proportion with the relevant offence would deter poor driving and bad behaviours on Irish roads. I don’t agree.
I don’t see the point in dreaming up further legislation or increasing the existing penalties because what we have at the moment is perfectly adequate but it’s not being enforced. That’s the real problem – lack of enforcement. Maybe that’s due to lack of resources, but the strength of An Garda Siochana today isn’t that far off what it was twenty years ago so where are they?
Back then, performing check points was a routine part of a tour of duty for uniformed gardai on regular outdoor duties, particularly during the night shift. Gardai could perform several of these during their tour and they could pop up anywhere on the main thoroughfares or the back roads.
They were effective on several fronts. When they were performed regularly, they were seen as a normal feature of community life and became a topic of conversation in the locality. That alone acted as a road safety awareness campaign. On the practical side, they led to the detection of traffic offences, made life difficult for travelling criminals and encouraged drivers leaving the pubs at closing time to consider leaving the car behind.
I have no idea what the current policy is in relation to checkpoints, but the population of Ireland has increased to over five million so it’s fair to assume there is a lot more traffic on the roads these days than there was when I was a serving garda. That suggests to me that there is more of a need for checkpoints than ever.
I was stopped recently on Water Street in Cork. It was after mid-night, and I was on my way to collect people from the airport. I’m pretty certain it was the first time I’ve encountered a checkpoint since I retired in 2015. If that’s a national trend, then it’s sending out the wrong message to motorists.
I don’t have any faith in the RSA adverts either. There is a cohort of drivers who won’t take a blind bit of notice of ads on TV or radio. Their poor driving will only improve after a life changing accident or through a face-to-face interaction with a member of An Garda Siochana or a judge in the District Court. There is no substitute for being caught in the act and facing a prosecution, fine or caution.
Much of the bad driving we see these days is because there is no fear of detection. I was driving home the other morning about 9.30am and I met a guy driving towards me. He was overtaking a line of parked cars. He had a mobile phone in one hand while steering with the other. Almost immediately after that, I met a woman driving into town and she too had a mobile phone up to her ear.
Examples of bad driving are easily found, and that complaint is being echoed across the length and breadth of the country. Jump into your car and take a short spin around your area and you will quickly see enough offences being committed to put a nice dent in any official garda notebook. That’s because offenders have no fear of being observed by a member of An Garda Siochana and why would they?
It is widely accepted that there is a distinct lack of garda visibility under the Drew Harris regime and the strength of the Garda Traffic Corps, has fallen by 17% in the last ten years. The RSA has called for a significant ramping-up of visible enforcement and that’s the crux of the matter.
Visibility is key. We have enough legislation so let’s have fewer ads and more action.