Road fatalities where do we go from here?

dublin | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Thursday April 06, 2006 03:22 by jim travers

Making sense of........................

The Gardai are placing a lot of emphasis on speed, as if speed was the complete cause of our road fatalities. The Germans are showing us that speed is not the only problem associated with road fatalities.The problem we now have is that the Gardai are alienating themselves from law abiding people because they are being forced to penalise people because of regulations that the Gardai themselves cannot uphold. The vast majority of our people want to abide by the law but are being forced into direct conflict with the gardai because our road regulation have not been thought out properly. Help the Gardai fight crime.......would you be prepared to telephone if you were suddenly presented in the post with a speed fine for a road that could handle a Jumbo 747?

Driving a car, is it time to get out and walk?

How’s it going John, long time since I seen or spoke to you, how is Mary and the kids? Mary’s doing fine and the kids have me pestered with their demands and cries for green flags, hats and shamrock for Saint Patrick’s Day. Like your new car, Jesus you are coming on in the world; it’s getting harder to keep up with ye.
Don’t talk to me about that car; it has brought me more grief since I bought it. I had fewer problems when I had the old Nissan Almera but it’s hard to ignore the comfort ye get from driving a Merc. I know, jasus you cant beat a Merc, there’s something about driving a Merc that makes the hair stand on the back of your head. Are ye having problems with it? Ye, bloody speeding fines, I’ve clocked up four penalty points so far and I am expecting another two on the way. The bloody car is so comfortable that you forget the speed you are travelling at and you just sail along with not a care in the world. I mean, Christ you’re driving along a dual carriageway with a speed limit of 80 Kph, can you believe it that’s just about 60MPH and you feel as if you might as well get out and walk. Its f******g ridiculous to be driving on an open road, with not a sinner in sight and then a Daewoo Matiz comes whizzing up your arse, blowing the horn as the driver gives you the fingers as he passes you out. The first instinct is to put foot to metal and scream past the idiot, but God knows what Garda is lurking with his star wars gun pointing in your direction as you smile at the f****R who passed you by, but shudder as you wiz past the Garda with the smile on his face that says “you’ve been done mate”. That car is just too comfortable to enjoy on the road, I literally spent money to crawl around in a car that could give me so much but is restricted in every possible way.

Ever get that feeling; ever think to yourself, why the hell did I buy a new car when I cannot drive it? I know there are idiots out there who drive like total muppets or make moves that makes Homer Simpson look like an class A driver, but God, where have the Gardai and local authorities been for the past fifty years, when the whole thrust of mankind is to push forward with the greatest of speed. We want everything in our consumer world to go faster and faster but when it comes down to cars we find our authorities impose unrealistic speed limits that make us drive slower and slower. Why would anybody in their right mind go out and buy an Austin Martin DB7, an MR2 or even a good second hand sports car only to find that there is not a single road in the country where he or she could drive the vehicle to at least half its potential.

Everybody agrees that there has to be speed limits but when those limits are deliberately downgraded in such a way that automatically snares and catches drivers due to the inconsistencies of those limits and the unrealistic speeds set on many of our roads, then the fines imposed on drivers is nothing short of state extortion. This can be seen up and down the country where speed limits on side and narrow country roads exceed those set on stretches of dual-carriageway’s and motorways. Turn off the main Blessington Road into a tiny lane that leads into Ballymore Eustace…….80 KPH. Pass over the bridge in village of Kilcock (40Kph) and turn onto a narrow side lane road that has homes and business its full length………80KPH. Drive the Naas dual carriageway and go like a yoyo, up and down in speed with no apparent reason that justifies the changes in speeds. No wonder there are so many fatalities on country roads but still the Gardai persist and conduct speed checks on roads that pose the most minimum risk of problems. It appears its all about catching people to fine them rather than controlling speed for safety purposes. But everybody is in agreement that speed restrictions must be in place, if only they reflected the true speeds suitable for the roads. The problem becomes more ridiculous as English and continental visitors consistently complain about the over use of traffic lights and our rediculous speeds that compel them to drive at a speed that make snails grand prix contesters . Don’t forget 30MPH is a cry away from 30KPH when you are on an open road or similar to an ant trying to negotiate crossing a white line on a road.

The N11 is a classical example of ridiculous speed limits. The N11 has a speed limit set along its road from 60 to 100 KPH but when you reach the M50 it goes up to 120KPH. Now I would have thought that when you are coming into a stretch of road that has heavy traffic congestion then you need to reduce your speed rather than put it up. It is also convenient for the Gardai to be positioned at points where the speed limit plunges dramatically below the speed suitable for the road, and then, they are there waiting to catch those who fall into the trap. It is basically a turkey shoot where the victor or in this case the Garda, will go home or back to the station with a sack full of victims. It is unacceptable to impose financial penalties on people purely because the authorities require revenue, they see as easily secured from the general public by placing the incorrect speed settings on our roads. To add injury to insult, we then find that the Gardai who are instructed to go out and enforce these ridiculous speed limits are the same people who themselves know that the current speed limits are inappropriate, a source of concern and of public disquiet. Last Saturday, I saw a Garda car going down the N7 at close to 80KPh in a 60 KPH speed zone. There was no emergency, no chase, no urgency, just a Garda car doing what everybody else is told not to do. The Garda in all fairness cannot do it themselves because the speed set for that road is totally inappropriate for any driver to drive comfortably within the law. But again the next time you are stopped by a Garda and summonsed to appear in court just give the judge the new political answer to every problem, I CANNOT REMEMBER or I WAS AT A NUMBER OF MEETING ON THE DAY IN QUESTION. See will he or she adjourn the case so that you can have an extended Saint Patrick’s Day holiday that allows you go on a trade mission to the Phoenix Park where you can try to convince the ducks and swans that bird flu is a figment of the worlds imagination and that Ireland has a lot more to offer if only their quacking colleagues would come and visit us.

Well back to the matter at hand. We must not forget that a car travelling at 10KPH can be just as fatal as a car travelling at 80 KPH. Speed kills and that is a fact of life, but to use speed and speed alone as the only major cause of road fatalities is the answer that enables the authorities to generate financial income on the back of a problem that is taking an increasing number of innocent lives. But let us also not forget that if you have to constantly concentrate on the needle of your speedometer so that you do not stray above the speed limit then you are compromising other vital requirements such as observation.

Driving under the speed limit has its own downfalls apart from the poor unfortunate driver having to take the flack from other road users. It causes other road users to move in and out of lanes, jumping car after car while at the same time keeping within the speed limit. It has another and possible more damaging effect and this is directly associated with incorrect speed limits being set on our roads, it causes driver fatigue, because drivers are sitting in traffic that is moving so slowly due to the fact that at other points along the roads, traffic cannot exit or move along those roads fast enough in order to maintain a steady flow of the traffic. When traffic is forced to dramatically drop its speed, especially on a road that has a clear path ahead, it tends to stifle traffic coming from other directions onto and off that road. International experts have said that inappropriate speed limits (more so downwards) are also a cause of accidents and other related problems.

Speed cameras also contribute to road accidents where once again the speed limits are set so that anybody driving above the limit suddenly attempts to take corrective action by jamming on the foot brake. This again has been confirmed in the UK, but still our political leaders have an Irish solution for an Irish problem. This example was clearly demonstrated on the Blessington Road, close to Templeogue bridge where Gardai mounted a speed check along the road. Cars coming from a faster speed limit stretch of road were suddenly confronted with a lower speed limit and a Garda speed checkpoint that resulted in drivers (especially the outer lane) breaking, which in turn caused a backwards ripple effect along the road. To really appreciate what I am saying you would nearly have to be present to see the confusion and the highly dangerous situation unfold in front of your eyes. All because a Garda checkpoint was mounted on a road that in reality shows no major problems with road fatalities. It was therefore a money spinning exercise and nothing less.

The use of speed as a platform for mounting an all out offensive on drivers is grossly irresponsible, unprofessional and does not address the real problems that are the cause to our increasing road fatalities. The Nation Road Safety Council is using speed as a soft touch government pleasing exercise that finds an interested ear from those who see the financial gain resulting from extensive speed check campaigns. If the Gardai were given a free hand in tackling the real causes of our road fatalities then placing speed checks on road that are capable of handling greater speed would be seen by them as a misuse of valuable Garda resources. On the other hand if the Gardai held a higher priority towards securing revenue, then speed checks would be increased and drivers would face an onslaught of fines, penalty points and court convictions.

Our main roads are a constant target for speed checks simply because drivers move along the road in harmony with other traffic and the open surroundings that give an impression of driving at a reduced speed. Simply put, drive at 30KPH on a narrow road in a mini and you are flying. Now put that mini on an open road and increase the speed limit by a further 20KPH the impression you get is that you are still driving slowly.
Increase the speed limit to a point where you feel you are driving too fast and you reduce your speed. There are idiot’s who will go on and on but that occurs even in today’s speed restrictions. Do the same thing for a bigger car and you are virtually crawling. It’s this that causes young drivers to loose control of their vehicles when navigating country roads and side lanes. On open roads they are crawling when breaking the speed limits that are in force and on side roads they apply the same speeds in the most dangerous of places. Result, death or severe injury. But country lanes do not command the vast sums of loot gathered from motorists like trout on a trout farm. It is far easier to produce impressive statistics on speed violations that look well in road safety reports by deploying Gardai in locations that are guaranteed to secure speed violations. Gardai place speed checks on the N11, M50, N7 and all those other roads that are recognised as roads capable of handling far greater speeds than what is set for them. And while Gardai mount these traps on major roads, people are dying on side roads, country roads and roads that carry very low volumes of traffic……….in other words why conduct a turkey shoot in a location that is sparse of turkeys.

There are answers……and the answers are obvious…….but the answers do not bring in valuable revenue to the exchequer without having to work for it or securing that revenue instantly. In other words the serious nature of road fatalities, road safety, driver awareness and compliance with the law is completely overshadowed by the desire of the state to secure revenue on peoples losses. It is also blatantly evidently that the Gardai are being used as revenue collectors by the very nature in the size of speed signs on roads when a speed is reduces from a higher speed to a lower speed. Where a road has a speed reduction sign, that sign is of a lower overall diameter compared to the sign displaying the higher speed. This can be seen on many main roads, dual-carriageways and motorways. Some of these speed reduction signs are sparse and displayed in obscure positions where a driver would have to be actively scanning away from the main direction of the road, which is dangerous. Higher speed signs are displayed on both sides of the road while lower speed signs are either stepped from side to side or on one side or the other. This is clearly evident in and around our city. This therefore indicates a desire on behalf of the local authorities to deceive and secure revenue through the incorrect positioning and displaying of road signs that deny motorists every opportunity to comply with the law.

This brings us to the very basic of driving standards and road safety awareness. You see the National Road Safety Council is caught between the need to promote driving standards and safety with the side line financial commercial interests of business and the revenue generated for the exchequer as a result of fines, road taxes and the VAT generated from the purchase of vehicles, vehicle parts and services. In other words the best method by which the National Road Safety Council envisages a reduction in road fatalities is by a combined effort in advertisements and speed reduction promotions that take away direct conflict and criticism of government’s inability to address and resolve a problem that does not include screwing people in the form of financial penalties. It’s like Dublin City Council coming to an agreement with the free newspaper companies where these companies paid the local authority an agreed sum of money, low and behold we suddenly find the problem of environmental waste and the litter generated as a result of that waste is washed aside and suddenly declared as being resolved. Local authorities are financial parasites who are extracting money from businesses while at the same time ignoring their initial concerns once they as highwaymen have been paid.

This is total nonsense and does nothing to both encourage safer driving and reduce the carnage on our roads. We have a huge problem right across the spectrum of driving, driver standards, learner driver training, insurance responsibilities, government commitment to safe driving initiatives and programmes as well as local authority responsibilities towards realistic safety regulations and standards that should hold a priority over financial gain.

The Insurance Federation has said that the current Road Safety Awareness Campaign by the National Road Safety Council is not working and this in itself must tell us a lot. It should tell us that the strategy and belief by the Council that speed is the main factor in road fatalities is factually incorrect. The Insurance Federation of Ireland would be better off directing its member’s money towards real and meaningful safety strategies by listening to the people on the ground who are at the heart and workings of road safety compliance. There again, when an insurance company can provide insurance to an eighteen year old for a high powered sports car, questions must also be asked as to the commitment towards safety and care by the insurance company over the financial gains of taking very high premiums from inexperienced drivers. We should also be very concerned because insurance companies are the only ones who provide cover to these drivers, but every one of us are forced to pay for their blatant indiscretion. Insurance companies seek penalty point’s information in order to hike insurance premiums and therefore boost their financial gains. Once again like the state it is a very easy way of securing money by stealth.

There are other methods by which insurance companies could become more active in the fight to reduce the carnage on our roads but they fail to listen or take on board proposals submitted to them for serious consideration. Take for example the Ignition imitative now in operation by Hibernian Insurance, a similar and far better proposal was submitted to Hibernian many years ago by an Irish person, but Hibernian had to wait until the Ignition system was introduced in Britain before they Hibernian Ireland made a move. We now find the Ignition system is just an insurance ploy to recruit more business. It’s sad, they had every opportunity to make a real impact on genuine road safety. I see learner drivers every day of the week driving on our roads, with a foregone conclusion that in the not too distant future they will be in a serious accident as a result of their driving standards. Taxis have redefined the meaning of hazard lights as other motorist mimic the procedure to sometimes deadly consequences.

Politicians screaming about the problems associated with the delay in learner drivers taking their driving tests are totally unfounded and show a lack of an informed and educated understanding of the main problems associated with the successful securing of a full licence by a learner driver. The majority of learner drivers taking their driving test for the first time are not competent enough to warrant them receiving a full driving licence. In reality the delays in securing a driving test should allow a learner driver with any sort of intelligence, to use that time to enhance the skill and competency of driving to a level that will satisfy the requirements of the driver tester. The problem is not the speed in conducting driving tests, the problem is in the competence of learner drivers to drive to a standard required and to maintain that standard throughout their driving experience.

Once again the quality and professionalism of driving instructors and most importantly the driving schools, directly contribute to the failure rate in drivers passing the test. Driver testers are under extreme pressure to pass drivers who in reality are not competent enough to receive a full licence, but because of political criticism and pressure, are forced to pass those who in reality should not have received that piece of paper confirming them as competent to drive as fully licensed drivers. Once that piece of paper is secured there is no follow up checks to determine if that driver is applying the skills on a continuous basis. The threat by the minister in securing the private sector to conduct driving tests is a dangerous move that puts once again profit before the quality and standard of driving expected from anybody who wishes to drive a motor vehicle. There again when a government can sanction the issuing of full driver licences to people who have not successfully passed a driving test then the same government cannot blame motorists for the carnage on our roads and attribute that carnage to road speed. It would be far better if the delays in conducting driving tests were reflected in the improved standards of driving by learner drivers when the driving test came about.
But this is not so, learner drivers can be seen every day of the week making blatant, dangerous and potentially catastrophic life taking manoeuvres and decisions.

This brings us on to driving schools. When driving schools can employ students during summer vacation or retired people who just happen to have a full driving licence, to instruct others in the skill of driving, without the standards required in order to become a competent driver, then we have found one of the many problems that indirectly lead to road fatalities and bad driver practices. I for my part became a driving instructor (research) after completing a four day driving instructor’s course with one of the most respected driving schools in the country. To add injury to insult I was unable to attend the first day of the course, missed the second half of the second day, finished early on the third day and took the test and passed on the fourth day. By the fifth day I was instructing others on how to drive, collecting 35Euro for the driving school and receiving 6 Euro per hour before tax for my efforts. Within two months I was out because I criticised other instructor’s incorrect methods of instruction which brought conflict between the driving school and the learner drivers. I was told that, “If another instructor tells a learner driver that there is no problem in the actions he or she is taking, then say nothing”.

My advice to you is, if you are a good competent driver who has a sound knowledge of the rules of the road then there is absolutely no reason for your family or friends to use a driving school. Find out what is required by the driving test centre in order to pass the driving test. Learn about good road discipline and the skills needed to become a competent driver. Driving schools have the best methods of extracting vast sums of money from people who are forced to take 20-30 lessons with absolutely no comeback if they fail their test. Driving schools play around with one another by giving you the old talk of “if you had of come to us first”, but let us not forget that when you change a driving school you are going to another school with an extra level of a skill you so dearly fought to achieve, so their job is once again made easier and anyway if you fail with the new school then there are many more out there for you to waste your money on.

This does not mean that all instructors are not competent and have no commitments to their students, but we must not forget if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Another driving school I investigated was big into training you as a driving instructor (training fees) and then setting you up as their franchised agent once you paid a 1000Euro refundable deposit, where that deposit was only refundable on their strict conditions. They provided you with the learner driver’s, take the cash from those drivers and then gave you the remainder of the tuition fee once they got their cut. Think about it, if you wanted to withdraw from the scheme you have as much chance of getting your money back as the Joker has of going straight.

Only last week I had to try and speak to an Asian driving instructor (could not understand English) who once again worked for a most respected driving school in the country ,about his standard of driving. This instructor tried to overtake a bus and two cars while trying to manoeuvre around a centre island as he came charging towards me on the opposite side of the road. I jammed on my brakes, got out of my car and gave him a piece of my mind, although he possibly could not understand a word I was saying. The following day I observed a car from the same driving school speeding through Templeogue village extremely dangerously. I observed another driving school with a learner driver coming off the M50 onto the Firhouse Road. The same driving school that is at the forefront of driver safety and road safety programmes is the same school that has instructors with questionable driving qualifications.

Driving schools have a huge problem in recruiting competent, skilled and professional driving instructors. Most of the smaller driving schools have sons and daughters giving instruction when the main instructor is not available or is out training others to drive. Driver testers in the test centres are unfairly criticised for not shifting more people through their system, but these testers see people every day of the week whom they know are not competent or responsible enough to sit behind the wheel of a car but still they make their judgement and the driver then sails out of the test centre only to make a further application for a driving test. For the government’s part, it is responsible for a lot of the carnage on our roads and the mayhem that is unfolding every day on our streets.

When a minister can, with the stroke of a pen allow learner drivers who have never taken either lessons or a driving test the privlidge of requiring a full drivers licence without a word being said then I am afraid it is definitely all about money and road safety is for its part a smokescreen to secure that money.

When a politician can insist that there are over 5000 buses ready to take up the duty of providing public transport, we must question the real reasons for suggesting this belief. Of the 5000 buses available, possibly 25% of the buses would possibly be suitable for use on our roads, a further 30% would be just about passable and the rest would be buses deemed beyond effective and safe use or at worst deemed unsuitable by British standards for public road use. Dublin Bus sold its sell by date buses to local private operators while some private operators imported buses deemed as unsuitable for use on British roads
For fear of nattering on, I will pass this point as I am confident that you understand where I am coming from and the many problems associated with driving instruction.

The Driving Instructors Register in itself is a good advancement in maintaining a standard of quality and professionalism for driving instructors. It places the training and qualification responsibilities on the driving instructor which in turn gives the instructor a legitimate status as a professional. It is not good news for a lot of our driving schools who see this idea as providing instructors with a qualification that comes with a demand for better wages. Up to now driving schools were recruiting anybody who could fit the position irrespective of their abilities to instruct or at best drive properly. The great fear here is that driving schools in order to increase or maintain their profit margins will have to pass on these increases to learner drivers thereby inhibiting some of our most vulnerable people who need to drive a motor vehicle in order to secure work. Driving schools are seeking to have a law which requires that the learner drivers must take a minimum of driving lessons from a driving school in order to be able to sit the driving test.

This is a very dangerous practice that must not be allowed because it hands over to the driving schools a make or break attitude that comes with a price. The only problem with the DIR is that it is a business first with everything else coming after that. It therefore must have a system in place whereby continued assessment is required for the restricted number of instructors it has on its books so that profit is continuously generated out of the limited numbers of members who are being constantly assessed.

A testing and assessment system would be far greatly enhanced and policed if the state set-up a driving instructor standards testing system that placed standards before business profits. This would also be of benefit in assessing the standards and qualifications of taxi drivers to drive public service vehicles.

Now let us look at the new penalty point being introduced by the Minister for Transport. Very good, very nice but at the best of times will be totally impractical for any driver to fully comply with the law. In other words it’s another nice money earner from drivers who are asked to make a driving decision and are then penalised for making that decision. The Gardai are handed these penalty point rules but are unable to properly enforce them because the vast majority of Gardai on road traffic duties are being directed towards revenue gathering operations.You can put a million regulations plastered on every wall on every street, but if the Gardai are not able to enforce the regulations then its is a farce and a fairytale going through the process of bringing these rules into law.

The penalty points system has nothing to do with safety first, it is about finance and it is about securing it as easily as possible. If safety was the main priority then penalty points should be the deterrent that makes drivers comply with the law. If informing an insurance company about the penalty points of the people it insures then this should also be seen as a severe deterrent. But by imposing a financial penalty as part of an overall penalty, becomes the states answer to securing funds first and safety later, once the highwayman has been paid. The motorist is being screwed for past financial mismanagement of state assets. Oh and by the way, don’t bother appealing your penalty point’s conviction. There is also a very nice clause that deters you from making that appeal. It’s the threat that you will incur extra points and a doubling of your financial charges should you attempt to seek justice and a so called fair hearing of your case. Talk about deterrents. We talk about fair justice and here we find mafia style tactics outside the steps of a court, posted to you beforehand in order to speed up the hasty signing of a cheque.

When we look at the state of our roads and the road signage that seems to clutter up the road to a point where it is becoming impossible to see the tar macadam from the white paint we must ask a question “how can we divide a road where priority on that small narrow city road jumps from cyclist to driver to pedestrian and back to cyclist and then say it is done in the interest of safety”? When we see a main dual-carraigeway (Naas Road) that is the gateway to many parts of the country being sliced up so that dangerous roundabouts and then tram tracks can be laid, thereby reducing the effective us of traffic lanes in order to move traffic more quickly we must sit in wonder and ask the question, who are we paying to make these ridiculous decisions? The junction at the Long Mile Road to the Naas Road is an absolute disgrace that has a section of road that when the traffic light system fails, up to four Gardai are required in order to keep the traffic moving safely. And don’t forget this involves the Gardai constantly concentration on one another’s directions to traffic so that they can have a uniformed approach to directing the traffic safely. You would not see these hilarious scenes in the Gaiety theatre.

But our political representatives are to blame for allowing the Naas Road, Bluebell and Inchicore and any other road to become literally a track only road where all traffic from many parts of the country converges from a four lane carriageway into a single lane that runs beside an empty centre line of the road that has no time use, other than the movement of a tram. Look at Saint James Hospital in James Street, Dublin, you drive along the tracks only to find some old lady making the left turn along the track and into the hospital. It’s easily done, I for my part fell into the trap, while a foreign visitors car had to be quickly driven out of the line of a tram coming from the Tallaght direction. The busiest streets and roads in the city have a public transport system that inhibits other public transport systems as well as general traffic from moving freely in and out of the city.

There is a contra-flow bus traffic plan that has been proposed by a Dublin Bus employee many years ago just sitting on the table because our city planners do not want to give this person the honour of saying “I told you it would work”. It is a plan worth investigating and implementing but our planners are satisfied to nibble at the contents of the proposal and gradually implement the proposals as their own. I suspect that the person who proposed this worthwhile imitative is a highly intelligent person but does not possess a Degree or other that enables him to wipe his feet on the floor mats in City Hall. Whatever happened to the remainder of the long awaited traffic flow imitative by Dublin City Council that made a minister say HOLD ON THERE………STOP. It just faded away forgotten about, so that in time it will be rejuggled and presented as yet again a new TRAFFIC FLOW IMITATIVE.

It’s crazy, cyclist are weaving in and out of cycle lanes, up and down on footpaths, swerving in and out as buses pull in at bus stops and then into bus lanes. Drivers park their car anywhere, as taxis stop and go at will or decide they want to stop and count their gains for the day. Delivery and removal trucks or vans clammer for a suitable spot to stop and unload their wares as the traffic light system brings everything to a state of dead slow or stop. Let us look at Rathmines Road as a single example of what is going on all around the city. At the top of Rathmines Road (at the traffic lights) you have to cross a continious white line as you pass through the traffic lights because cars are parked on either side of the road. You will also have to cross into a right turn lane from the opposite side because the clearway times end at 1900 hours and cars are parked in the lane that you wish to drive in. After negotiating these obstacles you will then be required to drive down the centre of the road because once again cars are on both sides of the road because the road is too narrow to facilitate all the conditions allowed for. When you reach mid way down the Rathmines Road your next obstacle will be at the pedestrian traffic light crossing where taxis stop and Pizza Hut motorcycles congregate in great numbers obstructing access for pedestrians and the elderly or disabled from crossing in safety. This also causes traffic to move into the opposite lane at a traffic lights junction, see what I mean? As Gardai walk by they are reluctant to intervene and anyway there is no point in the Garda intervening because the situation is ongoing due to the nature of the situation present.

So what can you be done for? Well if a Garda decides that he or she wants to gain an extra stripe and some of the traffic police can be uncompromising at the very best of times. You could be hit with penalty points for a number of the following, but let us not forget that in all of this, you just want to proceed down the road as safely as possible but you have to compromise that safety because of other external factors beyond your control.

1. Crossing a continuous white lines
2. Failure to drive on the left hand side of the road
3. Dangerous driving
4. Driving without due care and attention
5. Driving in a cycle track
6. Failure to yield
7. Driving without reasonable consideration
8. Failure to comply with traffic lane markings
9. Failure to comply with prohibitory traffic signs
10. Driver found to be driving carelessly
11. Failure to obey requirements at junctions E.g. not being in correct lane

And let us not forget that the Rathmines Road is just one example where the penalty points system will reap in endless financial gains for the government at the expense of motorist. The penalty points system is a system that is suitable for a country where the proper road infrastructure is in place, realistic speed limits are in force and the motorist is given every opportunity to comply with the law before the breaking of that law becomes blatantly obvious and therefore warrants penalties. What we have is a system that provides you with no opportunity to drive safely but encourages you to break the law so that you incur a financial penalty and the dreaded penalty points. The Gardai for their part remain silent when it comes to providing constructive criticism and proposals for resolving an issue that the public see as being flawed. Fleet Street is an ACCESS street only (buses and access for loading and unloading) but still general traffic use this street. Taxis clutter up the street in full knowledge that they are causing the poor unfortunate passenger who happens to be in their taxi to hand out extra cash for sitting in a street when the taxi driver could have easily used the slip road that leads into D’Olier Street from Westmoreland Street. And the same taxi drivers have a cheek to get out of their cars and abuse other drivers because they are not moving quickly enough for their liking.

It was of great pleasure to see a talented and well respected person as Gay Byrne become the chairman of the Road Safety Authority, if only in time to see him resign because the photo shot politicians once again were forced to listen and take action on manners they felt were not of their liking. Gaybo will, without doubt resign his position because of his inability to produce results due to political stalling and a watering down of the authorities proposals. Gay made a rousing contribution on the Pat Kenny radio show last week but slipped up when he criticised Dublin Bus and it’s belief that it owned the bus lanes. Now I would have thought that bus lanes where there to transport great numbers of people in the shortest possible time by having the unrestricted movement of buses from one place to another. We now find the AA telling us that car pooling is the way forward….talking about looking for something to say, car pooling, do they honestly believe in these hair brained ideas or is it that the same hair brained ideas that have come out of these so called bodies are by the same people who have progressively contributed to the chaos we currently have with our road traffic problems. Mr Byrne should take a number of road trips on the various Dublin Bus routes and then make an informed opinion as to the proper and effective use of bus lanes. And by the way, yes, another Garda speed check on the new road at Cork Street, Dublin, on Sunday morning at 7.55 am………talking about promoting road safety….as motorist die on other roads that are prehistoric compared to the Cork Street road.

Pedestrians

Here we have a huge problem. We provide pedestrians with pedestrian crossings, traffic controlled crossings, footpaths and pedestrian only streets only to find them still trying to walk under cars, lorries and buses. They tear across roads as if they were just told that a nuclear warhead was about to decimate Dublin city and they want to get home to see the spectacle. Everybody else is doing their utmost best to avoid a pedestrian hitting them instead of the other way around. Motorists from all sections have to be diligent in their procedures while cyclists and pedestrians set tasks for those whose only wish is to get from A to B without causing their insurance premiums to rise.
J walking fines, now that’s the answer. Place the responsibility on those who wish to gamble with death and injury and make them pay for their lack of consideration to others. Don’t forget a mindless idiot who walks out in front of an oncoming vehicle may be indirectly contributing to your sons or daughter’s death as the driver of the vehicle swerves to avoid one collision and makes another. There is no point in going to court to seek compensation for a loved one who has just been killed or severely injured because some mindless yobo decides he or she wants to have a look in a shop window. And there is no point in saying it’s a load of bullshit when possibly someday you might be faced with a situation that haunts you for the rest of your life, if you hold any sort of care and respect for others. Politicians must look at pedestrians as yet another aspect of the continued rise in deaths associated with the road.

Cyclists, foot propelled with potential to kill or be killed.

It is alarming that an increasing number of cyclists do not wear protective clothing and head gear, do not wear reflective gear and do not have a front or rear light on their bicycle. It is also alarming that the road worthiness condition of some bicycles and the ability of the cyclist to avoid a potential dangerous situation purely because the bicycle is unsafe. Bicycles are chained to lampposts or placed in positions where pedestrians, espicially the elderly could incur injuries. Motor cyclists are a greater risk to everybody never mind themselves. Cycle lanes on footpaths are not a good idea because cyclist use them as race tracks which in turn is potentially dangerous for young people and once again the elderly. I have seem many a potential disasters to a pedestrians take place on a footpath cycle lane, only to find the cyclist swerve out onto the road and cause yet another potential accident as a vehicle swerves over towards another vehicle in order to avoid the cyclist. Cycling standards and safety compliance must be enforced and cyclists who do not comply with this rule should have their bicycles impounded by the Gardai and only released after a small fine has been paid. The Gardai should apply the rules of the road to anyone who drives, cycles or walks on our roads so that the safety of one is the safety of all.

This debate could go on and on but one thing is certain people are loosing their lives and people are being victimised because somebody in authority thinks and believes that the answer to all our problems is contained in the word speed.
In order to get people quickly from the center to the outskirts of the city, we established a light rail system called Luas. There is a growing belief that government would like us all to use public transport (this would make more business and justify the introduction of the private sector into the bus market but once again more traffic congestion) but at the same time wants us to purchase cars so that they reap the tax, fill up the tank with petrol but then get rid of it because it laid in the petrol tank for too long. Road tax the vehicle but do not take it out on the road. And if all this fails then make life as difficult as possible by imposing unrealistic speed restriction, oodles of penalty point rules and fines, fines, fines.

Something needs to be done before decent, honest and law abiding people alienate themselves from the Gardai because of something that is just not right. The Gardai rely on information and help from the general public, they command a support from all of our society but are constantly straining that support because of laws that make people say enough is enough. They cannot and should not be seen as them and us, but regulations that are seen to be faulty and are then enforced by the Gardai is doing nothing to encourage and promote public support. When individual scandals emerge they enforce people’s belief that there is a law for one and a law for another and they therefore do not want to partake in the upholding of the law. It is making criminals out of people who through bad regulations and personal indecretions are victimised for minor offence. Local authorities must take more care and attention when carrying out their duty in the alleged interests of all the people.

And So-German Drivers 100 years ago

As our Irish road deaths go up and up this is not so in Germany. Now the Germans have the old autobahns where their speeds just go up and up. But wow, despite the fact that there are nearly 56.3 million vehicles, yes I say it again 56.3 million vehicles their road fatalities keep going down and down. This is not because the Germans are reducing their road speeds….well what do you think? From an Irish point of view it is telling us we are constantly looking in the wrong direction when trying to reduce road fatalities. From an Irish perspective it’s about revenue first, so our road fatalities go up and up and our government benefits on the pain of its people. Last year in Germany (population 82.5m) 5,326 people were killed on their roads, continuing a downward trend from a peak of 21,000 in 1970. In Ireland (population 3.9m) over 100 people have died in the first three months of 2006. Get the picture?

So Gaybo you have a huge task ahead, which the government and its ministers have placed on your shoulders so that they can sleep with a belief that they done their best and poor old Gaybo was just not up for the job.
If we are really interested in road safety and protecting people’s lives then our thinkings must start afresh with a new and realistic approach to solving this problem that surpasses politics and the need to secure revenue on the back of others loss.

Conclusion

So what can we do?

Well the emphasis on speed must be taken away and directed onto the real causes of road fatalities.
BAD DRIVING STANDARDS

The Gardai must be allowed to concentrate on blatent road traffic violations that have the potential to cause or encourage others to drive badly or will effects or contribute to others driving standards. This can be evidently seen within the taxi industry where the rules of the road is just seen as a child’s story book by the majority of taxi drivers.

The Gardai should concentrate more on the following
Driving violations that impede the movement of other traffic, double parking, illegal use of hazard lights, crossing continious white lines, sudden stopping on main roads for personal reasons, U turning in the center of busy roads(taxis), crawling at red traffic lights, stopping at bus stops and places where elderly or disabled people need to board buses and a host of other revenue generating violations that would make a real difference.

There is a huge range of driving standards rules that if enforced would have a direct impact on the standards drivers maintain on a regular basis thereby reducing road fatalities.

To start with Dublin city (centre) should be declared a zero tolerance zone for specified driving violations
E.G. stopping or parking at a bus stop, for any reason.
U turns in the middle of a street.
Jumping lanes or speeding from one lane into another, just to mention a few.

I would also suggest that taxis are a direct cause of traffic delays and congestion within the city because of their driving standards and the vary nature of their business. I would therefore suggest that taxis should be restricted from stopping on the main city roads from Christchurch to Parnell Square and the main roads adjoining these roads. In other words taxis allow passengers board or disembark on any side street adjoining a main road but not the main road.
This makes logical sense as there is no major disruption to taxis in having a taxi driver stop in a side street, on the contrary it would provide precise designated taxi side roads where people seeking taxis could secure them in complete safety………….So why not?

The driving schools with their years of active presence in Irish motoring have not provided through self regulation a standard of training that is reflected in the driving standards of all our motorists. If anything they have been more of a profit generating business rather than a safety and standards business. From my personal experience driving schools have not contributed in any substantial way to the improved standards of drivers over very many years. Their role is purely bases and designed on profit first and then enabling a driver to barely pass a test, secondly.

Follow up testing must and should be part of a driving test, which encourages drivers to improve their standards towards a long term driving licence.

One thing is certain, the Gardai may set up as many speed check points as they so wish but it will not reduce the level of road fatalities because they have got their priorities completely and utterly wrong which is distracting their efforts away from the real causes of road fatalities.

Is there anyone listening out there?

If you agree then let someone else know about this posting.