FAMILIES OF those killed in road crashes have called on the Garda Commissioner to abolish fees for the release of documents relating to the crashes, writes David Labanyi
Relatives must pay €41 for a Garda crash form, and €21 for each witness statement.
Susan Gray, founder of the road safety group Parc, said she was writing to the Commissioner after being contacted by families objecting to the fees.
"We feel families have gone through enough losing a loved one without getting a big bill.For many families access to those files is crucial to get a full picture of what happened."
One family that recently paid these fees are Donna and Adrian Price, from Mullingar, Co Westmeath. Their son Darren (18) was killed in a crash at Tyrrellspass in March, 2006.
"I feel really strongly about this. We had to engage a firm of solicitors to help us get them. The gardaí insisted on payment of the €313 fee prior to the release of the documents," said Mrs Price. "If we weren't able to pay the fees I presume they wouldn't have given us the statements and we would never have known what happened."
One reason families of those killed in crashes seek such documents is they offer one of the few avenues to find out what may have caused the crash. A Garda spokesman said the fees were set by the Department of Justice to recoup the cost of providing the documents, and said they were not under review.