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300 deaths so far
The carnage continues unabated. At the time of writing more than
300 people had lost their lives this year on Ireland’s roads.
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Behind every statistic there lies a tale of of tragedy that only
the families and relatives of the victim can fully understand.
The saddening reality is that the majority of road fatalities
could and should be prevented. This wanton waste of human life
is a scandal of sickening proportions writes John Loughran.
Shamefully the Government has failed to honour its promise to
implement a more radical enforcement strategy to prevent the carnage
on our roads. It seems there is a lack of political will to tackle
the problem. Cynics will say it is not a vote catching issue.
Broad Consensus
Conor Faughnan public affairs manager with the Automobile Association
and a board member of the National Safety Council has slammed
the Government for their failure to introduce the penalty points
system even though there is a broad consensus of opinion in favour
of its introduction.
“There is very broad support for this initiative but it is
just taking too long. It is absolutely maddening. They say now
they will have it in place by the end of 2001 but even that is
looking optimistic now.”
Not A Priority
Mr. Faughnan believes the introduction of the penalty points system
is not being prioritised by the Government. “I suspect that
the source of the delay in the penalty points system is that it
is not high enough a priority. After Veronica Guerin’s murder
the immediate priority was to tackle the drugs gangs. We got new
legislation and the Criminal Assets Bureau immediately, nobody
spoke about workloads or how difficult it was to do.” He
believes it will take a similar fast track approach to bring in
the penalty points system.
Delays
A spokesperson for the Minister of State at the Department of
the Environment defended the delays by saying: “we will have
the system up and running by the end of next year. The fact is
that serious legal matters had to be considered. There could be
no question of proceeding on any basis which entailed uncertainty.”
200 Lives
Per head of population Ireland has twice the number of road fatalities
as the U.K., where the penalty points system has been in operation
for some years. If Ireland could match the U.K. in terms of road
safety some 200 hundred lives would be saved annually. Surely
this is something worth prioritising.
Under the U.K. model a driver starts with a 12 point licence with
points being deducted for various offences from speeding, non
wearing of seat belts, dangerous driving etc. If a driver accumulates
12 points in a three year period the licence is revoked. The licence
is automatically revoked for one drink driving offence.
Three Point Licence
In addition to the 12 point licence the NSC are pushing for the
introduction of a three point licence for “L” drivers,
which would mean they would lose their licence after one offence.
“Boy racers” might stop to consider their driving habits
if this proposal was adopted. The prospect of being put off the
road for receiving a single speeding ticket would surely act as
a strong incentive to slow down.
Garda Enforcement
It will take huge Garda enforcement to make the new system work
when it eventually arrives. The NSC are also pushing for the establishment
of a dedicated, specially trained road safety division to tackle
the problems of drink driving, speeding, non wearing of seat belts
and dangerous driving.
Garda resources in this area at present are negligible. For the
penalty points system to bear fruit Gardai will need extra financial
resources and additional bodies on the street. These resources
need to be put in place now, so that when the penalty points system
finally arrives, the Gardai will be in a position to enforce the
full rigours of the law.
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