Poor road conditions rather than driver error is chiefly to blame in certain traffic accidents, a senior garda officer said today.
The head of the Garda Forensic Collision Investigation Unit, Sgt Colm Finn, said he believed bad road surfaces, sight lines and signage were significant factors in accidents.
Speaking in advance of a major road safety seminar, Sgt Finn added in some instances it was the poor standard of roads, rather than driver error, which caused crashes.
"There is no doubt that a range of road conditions, including the state of the surface, the driver's line of sight, and the location or absence of road signs, play a significant role in the cause of some road accidents, and quite clearly it is not always down to driver error", he said.
"Engineering Safer Roads", a major seminar to be held in Offaly on May 31st, will feature contributors and road safety experts from Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Sweden.
Sgt Finn, who will be addressing the seminar, compiles data at fatal road accident scenes and later presents his findings at coroners' inquests. He said he believes his conclusions can inform the decisions of both local authority road engineers and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
A spokesman for The National Roads Authority (NRA) said it works closely with both the gardai and the RSA in improving the safety of roads nationwide and welcomed the input of both bodies.
Engineers Ireland, which is organising the seminar, said Sgt Finn's comments are supported by evidence from the NRA, which since 1994 has operated a road improvement programme at accident locations on the National Road network, if deemed appropriate.
According to a study published in 2000, over 100 improvement schemes were completed in 1994 and 1995 nationwide, with a subsequent 20 per cent reduction in traffic accidents.