After months of consultation the Government's new road safety strategy is about to be released. David Labanyireports on how it plans to make our roads safer
The wait for the new Road Safety Strategy is nearly over.
A draft of the new plan has been seen by The Irish Times and it contains more than 100 proposals to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roads.
Like the two previous plans, the document is a mixture of new ideas and unimplemented targets from previous road safety plans.
If all the measures contained within it are introduced, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) believes road deaths could fall to around 250 or less by 2011.
This would be a fall of more than 100 deaths a year when compared with the 368 deaths on the roads last year.
Reaching such a target would bring Ireland close to best practice countries such as Sweden, Norway and France where roughly 50 people per million die on their roads per annum.
In Ireland last year it was 97 per million.
The RSA also says in its review of the impact of previous road safety plans that between 2003 and 2006, Ireland was one of the few European countries where road deaths increased.
Annual reports for the Minister for Transport on progress is one of the new ideas in the strategy and is designed to prevent targets being missed.
The goal in the previous strategy of reducing road deaths to fewer than 300 by the end of 2006 was not met, largely because of delays with the introduction of random breath testing, it notes.
Random breath testing did not start until July last year and its impact was immediate. In the year since its introduction, 93 fewer people have been killed than during the preceding 12 months.
However, mindful that the fall in deaths after penalty points were introduced was quickly lost, the report says that meeting targets in the new plan is dependent on increased resources being made available to the Garda Traffic Corps. Another new idea is a greater focus on prescription and non-prescription drugs.
Over the next four years the RSA and the Department of Transport also plan to bring forward legislation to permit the testing of all drivers at the scene of a crash.
When it comes to measures to counter speeding the report is a mixture of old and new. The goal of a network of privatised speed cameras, contained in the last road safety strategy, has been included again.
This has been joined by specific targets such as increasing the number of cars complying with 50km/h urban speed limits from 39 per cent to 55 per cent by 2011. The RSA report notes that even a 5km/h reduction in speed can see a 15 per cent fall in collisions.
For HGVs and buses the strategy sets a new target of 90 per cent compliance with speed limits in urban areas and 80 per cent compliance on all other routes.
The RSA also wants more compliance among motorists when it comes to seatbelt wearing and it wants the percentage of people in the front seats wearing them to increase from 85 per cent to 90 per cent.
It has also set a target for child safety restraint usage to reach 70 per cent, up from 62 per cent.
The new report leans more heavily on the experience of other countries that have successfully reduced road deaths than previous road safety plans.
In particular, the RSA wants to follow the Swedish model which accepts that drivers will make mistakes and seeks to build a more forgiving road network.
The "2+2" or "dual carriageway" network, due to be retrofitted on over 850km of national routes to reduce head-on collisions by the introduction of central median barriers is one such initiative.
Another is the removal of signs, pylons and trees from road edges to allow drivers space to regain control without a serious collision if they leave the road.
The RSA's recommendations are broken down into four main categories: education, enforcement, engineering and evaluation. Secondary school pupils will be allowed to sit their theory test which is based on the rules of the roads.
The RSA also wants all school buses to be fitted with seatbelts and from September next year this will become a requirement before a school bus can get a roadworthiness certificate.
The RSA also wants an annual review of all speed limits on national roads to ensure they are appropriate.
Mindful of technological difficulties that have hampered previous anti-speeding projects, the draft report notes that an integrated computer system linking the new speed camera network with vehicle and driver databases and the court service is essential.
The RSA is currently tendering for a private company to introduce a network of speed cameras that will be situated at collision-prone-zones identified by the gardaí.
As part of a new policy the RSA wants increased information about the number and types of injuries resulting from crashes. It notes that while data on road fatalities is fairly accurate, there is relatively little information on injuries. In 2005, there were 9,318 people injured in crashes and they require 30,000 hospital bed days each year.
Road safety programmes for non-nationals are also included in the recommendations. Penalties for "foreign bus and truck operators" who break Irish traffic laws will also be introduced, the RSA says.
The new strategy will also seek to complete a number of stalled projects such as the as the introduction of an administrative disqualification for drivers marginally over the alcohol limit, and the introduction of the remaining penalty point offences.
MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS
SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMMES FOR 17- TO 24-YEAR-OLD DRIVERS
SECONDARY PUPILS CAN SIT DRIVER THEORY TEST BY SECOND QUARTER OF 2009
ADEQUATELY RESOURCED TRAFFIC CORPS IN EACH GARDA DIVISION
COMPLIANCE WITH URBAN SPEED LIMITS TO RISE FROM 39 PER CENT TO 55 PER CENT
HGV COMPLIANCE WITH URBAN SPEED LIMITS TO RISE TO 90 PER CENT
ROADSIDE TEST FOR PRESCRIPTION AND NON-PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
INTEGRATED SPEED CAMERA PROGRAMME
REVIEW OF SPEED LIMITS ON NATIONAL ROADS
PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT FOR HGV INSPECTORS
ENGINEERING REMEDIES FOR 20 CRASH BLACKSPOT ZONES EACH YEAR
INTRODUCTION OF "2+2" ROADS
DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR CLEARING ROADSIDES
REMOVE ROADSIDE HAZARDS
REVIEW STANDARDS FOR MANAGEMENT OF ROADWORKS
REDUCE BLOOD ALCOHOL LIMIT TO 50MG/100ML
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU CONVENTION ON DRIVING DISQUALIFICATIONS
MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF DISQUALIFICATIONS FROM THE NORTH AND BRITAIN
REFORM OF DRIVER LICENSING AND TESTING, INTRODUCE LEARNER PERMIT
WAITING TIME FOR A TEST TO FALL TO 12 WEEKS BY END OF 2007
IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPULSORY TRAINING FOR MOTORCYCLISTS BY THE END OF 2007
SURVEY SPEEDS AND SEATBELT WEARING LEVELS
EXAMINE POTENTIAL OF DRIVING SIMULATORS
RESEARCH INJURIES FROM COLLISIONS
WORK WITH CAR INDUSTRY TO ENSURE WRITTEN-OFF VEHICLES ARE KEPT OFF ROADS