Cullen calls speeding drivers to task

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has criticised drivers of speeding lorries and buses for the part they play in road deaths.

Launching the new Railway Safety Commission in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, he said that it was "utterly unacceptable" for buses and lorries to drive too fast.
"One of the things that is happening is that trucks are breaking the speed limit and then if somebody is trying to pass a truck they are breaking the speed limit by a substantial margin and that is causing the problems on the road. You then get into very unsafe zones, people lose control of their vehicle and people are being sadly killed or injured. It is just appalling," he said.

Mr Cullen added that it was also "unacceptable" that people were not wearing seat belts. He stated that road safety advertisements on television were being ignored by drivers and that new ways of getting road safety messages across would have to be considered.

Statistics from the National Roads Authority (NRA) showed that drivers are more than eight times more likely to break speed limits than they were on the introduction of penalty points. He said that this kind of behaviour was largely responsible for the carnage.
In January, 41 people were killed on the State's roads, a seven-year-high for that month and eight more than January 2005.