Future of Road Safety Authority questioned in Dáil as road deaths climb

A Government TD has questioned whether it is “time to stand down” the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Speaking in the Dáil during a statement on road safety, Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon said it may alternatively be time to give the agency legislative powers.

He said Ireland was experiencing “a litany of death and disability” on its roads and it was no longer acceptable to propose a “piecemeal response”.

The Galway East TD said “vision zero”, a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, was not “some pie-in-the-sky ambition” and could and should be achieved.

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“We really need to look at the Road Safety Authority, its functions, its obligations, what sort of legislative powers are available to it to do its job, what resources are available to it to do its job properly,” he said.

“I really wonder is it time to stand down the Road Safety Authority or perhaps do the following – to give it [the RSA] the legislative powers, give it the impact by creating an office of a road safety commissioner. That is what we need here right now.”

Mr Cannon added that the RSA, An Garda Síochána, two Government departments, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, local authorities and “a plethora of different bodies” all have road safety functions somewhere within their remit.

“It is obviously not working because there is no overarching individual or office with the legislative power and resources to pull all of these disparate strands together and make our roads safer for each and every individual that uses them,” he said.

“If the RSA is to morph into this [road safety commissioner] office, great; if it requires completely standing down the RSA and starting all over again, equally great. Whatever it needs, it needs to happen now.”

The RSA is a State agency that was formed in 2006 by the-then government to promote road safety.

Green Party TD Brian Leddin said whether the RSA should be stood down was “a big question” for the Government and Oireachtas.

“I believe the Road Safety Authority is in many respects barking up the wrong tree when it comes to road safety,” he said. “It is looking at some things that are not effective and not looking at other issues that it should be looking at.”

Mr Leddin said the RSA had put so much effort, energy and money into promoting hi-visibility, but asked where was its ambition around red-light-breaking enforcement or analysis of the trend in sales of heavy and large vehicles.

People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny said pedestrians and cyclists accounted for more than 30 per cent of all deaths on Irish roads – which was “incredible”.

“That needs to be looked at. Why is that happening? Each case is probably different but we need to bring that down significantly because there are situations where people are just out walking and are hit by a car, badly injured or sometimes killed,” he said. “We have to find a reason why that is happening. The fact is the figure is at a 15-year high.”

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers said in three out of the last four years, there had been an increase in road-related crashes and serious incidents.

He said this year was likely to see that trend “exacerbated” and as of Thursday there had been 155 deaths on Irish roads this year.

“This will bring the total to the same as that for the entirety of last year, and we have two months still to go,” he said. “The winter months tend to see an increase in road deaths above those in the earlier parts of the year.”