The decision by the Garda authorities to give a new priority to the whole issue of traffic management is a welcome, if belated, initiative. The dreadful carnage on our roads may only attract fleeting media attention or public interest but the extent of it warrants the most serious attention from the Garda and other public authorities. On one weekend earlier this month some 24 people were killed and dozens were injured in road accidents.
Last year, for the third year in succession, the numbers killed on our roads increased by a significant level; a total of 456 people were killed in 1995. Some will find consolation in the fact that our level of fatalities is lower than some of our EU partners but it might also be borne in mind that Ireland even at a time of economic boom still has a relatively low level of car ownership, when compared to most of our EU partners. On any objective basis, the level of road fatalities in this State is inexcusable.
Perhaps we should not be surprised. Strong law enforcement is a sine qua non for road safety; without it, there is the natural temptation to take a risk on drinking and driving, on overtaking, on speeding. It cannot be a coincidence that the level of road deaths actually declines over the Christmas period when the Garda mount a well publicised campaign against drunk driving. But this kind of vigilance is unusual; this State is, only now, moving to introduce an MOT test for older vehicles. And it is not that long ago that full driving licences were awarded to provisional drivers in order to clear the desk with little regard for the safety implications.
The launch of Operation Freeflow last year and its remarkable success in helping to ease the traffic flow in central Dublin pointed the way to a less primitive system of traffic management in which the interests of the driving public were, at last, given greater priority than that of the delivery man or the shopper who liked to malinger on the double yellow line. The warm response of the public to Operation Freeflow symbolised a remarkable change in Irish attitudes. The traditional hostility towards law enforcement had melted away; instead, an exasperated public actually welcomed tighter vigilance and enforcement.
Unhappily, it appears that we have already lapsed back into our old ways. As any city motorist will attest, Phase Two of Operation Freeflow has already petered out. Dublin traffic managers will meet shortly to decide how the whole scheme can be revitalised, but there appears to be no great confidence that the initial success of Operation Freeflow can be repeated.
There is no reason why this should be the case; the Garda, Dublin Corporation, the Dublin Transportation Office, the Department of the Environment and others all share a responsibility for traffic management. The Garda decision to establish a national traffic bureau is welcome evidence of its determination to take its responsibilities seriously; but the other responsible agencies cannot be allowed to shrug their shoulders.