The simple fear of getting caught speeding can save lives, but is the political will there to keep that fear alive? Patrick Logue reports
A friend recounted recently how word spread amongst the crowds in the aftermath of the Electric Picnic music festival last month that gardaí were randomly breath testing drivers leaving the venue.
She and her comrades immediately took the decision to wait in a damp and muddy field in Co Laois for a number of hours before embarking on the journey home to ensure they were safe to drive. They arrived home safely without seeing a single member of the Garda on the road to Dublin.
The extent of Garda activity in the area is not known and it doesn't really matter. This was the "fear factor" in action and it was having the desired effect. It is hoped this fear of getting caught is responsible for a sudden dip in road deaths in August and September, making them the safest two months on the roads for many years.
We haven't seen the fear factor at play in the Irish driving community for more than three years. The initial and partial roll-out of the penalty points system in November 2002 brought an instant, but not lasting, reduction in road deaths as drivers improved their behaviour behind the wheel out of the fear of getting caught.
As a result, the final two months of that year saw a sharp fall bringing the yearly road death total in 2002 down from 411 in 2001 to 376. The fear factor continued and in 2003 "only" 335 people died on Ireland's roads.
But in 2004, the figure was back up to 374 and last year saw 396 deaths. The fact that there was less than proper and full enforcement had spread as quickly as the fear of getting caught did and we were back to square one.
An actuarial analysis of the situation published last week found that 255 lives could have been saved, or 78 per annum, if the impact of the penalty points had not diminished six months after its introduction. The Society of Actuaries in Ireland (SAI) research also found that Ireland was about 10 years behind the UK in its efforts to cut road deaths.
Two other studies published last week show the underlying trend, despite the initial dip in road deaths in 2002/2003, is unchanged.
Indeed, a report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) showed efforts to cut road deaths since 2001 had virtually failed. While countries like France, Belgium and Luxembourg have reduced deaths by up to 35 per cent, Irish road deaths fell between 2001 and 2005 by only a minuscule 3 per cent.
Despite the introduction of penalty points, the expansion of the Garda Traffic Corps and a renewed focus on road fatalities, Ireland continues to languish with the likes of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic at the bottom of the European road safety league, according to the ETSC study.
And it is little wonder. A Lansdowne Market Research study conducted for Irish Insurance Federation, published last week, gives us an insight into the kamikaze attitudes of Ireland's drivers that have been keeping us at the bottom of the table.
The study found that more than half of motorists believed they were unlikely to be caught for speeding (52 per cent) and drink driving (51 per cent) offences. A staggering 73 per cent thought they were unlikely to get caught for dangerous overtaking, an offence that now carries up to five penalty points on conviction.
Some 70 per cent admitted to speeding and 17 per cent were prepared to admit drink driving. Even so, the blame for the carnage falls not solely with those who admit to the driving indiscretions; a total of 90 per cent of those surveyed said the Government wasn't doing enough to improve road safety standards. It seems Irish drivers are childlike in their mentality and want to be forced by proper Garda enforcement. But the Lansdowne survey was carried out among 1,000 adults in April, significantly before the introduction of the mobile phone ban and random mandatory breath testing for alcohol in August. In this very short space of time attitudes may have radically changed and we may be into another downward trend in road deaths.
In August, road deaths were down to 17, compared to 24 in August 2005 and 35 the previous August. Despite a spate of fatal accidents last weekend, September saw a total of 22, making it too one of the safest months on the roads since the start of the decade.
The question is, will it last? Have we turned a corner in road safety? Brian Farrell of the Road Safety Authority believes we have.
Farrell is upbeat and believes random breath testing "appears" to be working. He told this newspaper last week he does not expect a fall in enforcement activity similar to after the introduction of penalty points.
"Gardaí say they have conducted more breath tests since random testing came in than compared with all of last year. There is now a very realistic chance of getting caught and this creates a fear factor among drivers, and with the Garda Traffic Corps being expanded, we expect this level of enforcement to be maintained."
Indeed the traffic corps's visible presence on the road network will be key in maintaining the positive momentum. The Garda Traffic Corps has been expanded and is due to further increase in size in 2007 to bring the corps to over 1,000 in 2007.
Fine Gael's road safety spokesman, Shane McEntee, believes this will be key to maintaining the recent gains. "We will turn a corner in road deaths if the Garda gets the force it is entitled to. Garda after garda tells me 'We have no back-up, we are stretched to the limit'." He conceded that measures pushed by Martin Cullen "have a lot to do with" the reduction in road deaths in August and September. "It has to be maintained but the money has to be spent," he added.
This will need political will, as seen in France since 2002. In July 2002 President Jacques Chirac declared the "fight against road violence" one of the top three priorities of his second term in office. He then went on to oversee the introduction of a comprehensive speed camera system and the country now has 1,000 fixed and 500 mobile speed cameras on its road network. The system eliminates the chance of a friendly policeman's discretion as cameras send details of speeding motorists directly to a central computer which in turn issues the fine. Some 14 million motorists were fined last year.
The new camera system is estimated to have contributed to 75 per cent in the reduction in French road deaths between 2002 and 2005. From 2003 to 2005, the proportion of vehicles travelling at 10km/h and more above the legal limit fell from 35 to 20 per cent. The number of vehicles exceeding the limit by more than 30km/h went down by a massive 80 per cent and average speeds fell by 5km/h.
We are still awaiting the introduction of a network of privatised speed cameras which is due to be put out to tender shortly. In the meantime the Garda must continue instilling the fear factor back into Ireland's motoring community and the political will must allow this to happen.