Ireland

Further road safety measures on way in 2025, says RSA chief

More speed cameras and re-education courses for errant drivers flagged as fatalities close to last year’s record

So far this year some 165 people have been killed on the State’s roads. Photograph Nick Bradshaw
So far this year some 165 people have been killed on the State’s roads. Photograph Nick Bradshaw
Tim O'Brien
Wed Dec 04 2024 - 17:05

More fixed-speed cameras and technology to capture people using mobile phones while driving, along with legislation to enable re-education courses for errant drivers, are among measures the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is hoping to see introduced next year.

RSA chief executive Sam Waide on Tuesday said he is “absolutely” sure new road safety measures would begin to pay off in 2025.

So far this year some 165 people have been killed on the State’s roads, which compares with 170 in the similar period of 2023.

Asked if something had gone wrong in the road safety strategy, Mr Waide acknowledged that “2023 was a bad year” and “this year has been challenging”. He added that “the population has increased in the last four to five years. There is a record number of vehicles on our roads ... so with that comes an increased risk of traffic ... [and] collisions.

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“But 2024, yes, people may view the numbers [and] say, ‘well, now actually, that’s not much different for 2023′. But those interventions that have been put in place this year, we will see the positive impact those will have ... in the new year 2025 and beyond.”

Mr Waide said from 2017 to 2022 there was just one fixed-speed camera system on the State’s roads, located in the Dublin Tunnel. In 2022 a second camera system was installed on the M7 in Co Tipperary.

However, he said the installation of additional cameras is going ahead this month and by March 2025 there will be at least 12 in place, a feature he said was “only the beginning ... because [Garda Commissioner Drew] Harris committed to [a] further 100 locations across the country and [in the] RSA we advocate [for] and support that.”

Mr Waide said if he had “one big ask” of the incoming government for 2025, it would be “to put road safety in the school curriculum”.

[ One in four drivers admit to being over the limit the morning after a night out ]

Speaking after he presented the annual Leading Lights of Road Safety awards in Dublin, Mr Waide said there were several measures in the next phase of the road safety strategy which he hoped the government would legislate for in the coming year.

These included a measure to introduce a “speed awareness” course for errant drivers. The move would allow them to accept penalty points or take the course which Mr Waide said he believed would be transformative.

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist