Sir, - I am pleased to see that the Garda is "pleased" with its road safety campaign Operation Samhradh (The Irish Times, September 5th). It is always good to see any fall in road fatalities and injuries for whatever reason. However, the truth is that Garda management lacks imagination and conviction when it comes to reducing road deaths in this country.
We have had Operation This and Operation That, usually as a direct response to some incident involving major loss of life. As for Operation Samhradh, one would have expected to see battalions of gardai patrolling our roads, enforcing the basic laws, ensuring that drivers kept the rules and making the roads safer for us all during the summer months.
Well, if they were "out there", they must have been on an undercover operation. I travel every working day between Naas and Dublin. The Naas Road has to be the most dangerous stretch of road to travel during peak hours. Tailgating, use of the hard shoulder as a third lane and undertaking on the inside lane are the norm; yet I have never seen any Garda activity on this road during peak hours.
Every weekend I travel from Naas to Portumna, Co Galway. What I encounter on these journeys is scary. Unlit tractors and farm equipment at night, commercial vans with passengers in the back, adults and children without seatbelts, lorries and buses travelling at speeds over 70 m.p.h., a total disregard for speed restrictions in towns. . .the list is endless. Once again, and with 40,000 miles under my belt in 16 months, I have never seen an active Garda presence on our roads.
This is where imagination and conviction come into play. Put a dozen unmarked Garda motorcycles (with discreet blue lights and sirens) on the Naas road for one week at peak times and prosecute every traffic violation. Word will travel. Problem solved. Over a period, visit every farm, haulage company and bus operator in the country and examine all equipment using the public highways for lighting, tyres, seatbelts, etc. Issue warnings. Issue summonses. Enforce the laws that already exist.
The Garda love operational titles so I suggest Operation ICE (Imagination, Conviction and Enforcement) These are the keys to reducing road deaths and forcing us all as drivers and passengers to change our attitudes to road behaviour and safety. - Yours, etc.,
David Darmody, Monread Crescent, Naas, Co Kildare.