Fall in road deaths welcome but much work remains

News that Ireland is now ranked the tenth safest country from 27 in a worldwide OECD road safety survey is indeed heartening. There has been a significant decline in road deaths over recent years, thanks to a number of factors, including better driving standards, the work of the Road Safety Authority and the improvement in the road network overseen by the Government. A real focus on the issue of road fatalities by the media has also contributed to this welcome rise in driving standards. The number of deaths on Irish roads last year - at 240 - was the lowest on record. The figure was a reduction of 39 on 2008. And amazingly, there wasn't a single road death in the Athlone garda division area.Although the OECD report notes a reduction in road deaths and traffic accidents despite an increase in the number of vehicles on the roads, it also highlights the ongoing concerns over the behaviour of younger drivers. Drivers aged between 18 to 20 years of age are still a high risk group in Ireland, with a fatality risk three times higher than that of the general population. The report also found that for a motorcyclist, the risk of dying in a traffic crash per vehicle kilometres travelled is about 23 times higher than that for a car occupant. The obvious answer to young driver behaviour is to introduce driver training in schools, but no consideration has been given to this most basic of changes. If education is to equip young people with life skills, surely driving is a basic requirement in a modern society? Despite the beneficial work in reducing the level of fatalities on our roads, a number of issues of concern have arisen over the last few days, not least the bizarre fact that over 17,000 offenders have escaped penalty points by not bringing their driving licences to court! Some 18,383 drivers have been convicted of offences that require a mandatory court appearance since 2003. However just 727 of these drivers had penalty points applied, it emerged this week. In theory, court clerks note the driving licence number of the convicted offender and it is passed on for the purpose of imposing penalty points to the relevant authorities. The grey area arises in cases where the defendant fails to bring a driving licence to the court. Yet again, Ireland's legislation is undermined by loopholes, a lack of clarity and a failure to react to problems. This whole saga may have serious repercussions if the insurance industry were to explore a legal action against the State for its failure to endorse licences.Meanwhile, we have now been waiting for over seven years for the long-promised private speed cameras on our roads, first mooted back in 2003. In June of 2008, Go-Safe became the preferred bidder to operate the proposed system. It is intended that the company will provide 6,000 hours of enforcement every month, to complement Garda activity. However, the contract was only signed in November last, and it is not expected that the private cameras will be in place on blackspot locations until at least the middle of this year. The reduction in road deaths is a significant achievement, but every life is precious and there is much more that can be done to prevent further deaths.