{"id":16570,"date":"2017-01-24T01:04:41","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T00:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/?p=16570"},"modified":"2017-01-24T01:04:41","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T00:04:41","slug":"need-join-drive-safe-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/need-join-drive-safe-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"We all need to join the drive for safe roads"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"garda_main\"<\/a>2016 saw another increase in the number of fatalities on our roads. Geraldine Herbert argues that enforcement is only part of the solution, and that all of us have a role to play in reducing the number of deaths<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On average almost 16 people were killed on Ireland’s roads every month in 2016, 187 in total \u2014 a rise of 26 on 2015. The death toll included vulnerable road users, among them 10 children, 10 cyclists and 35 pedestrians.<\/p>\n

In 2010, Ireland was ranked among the best performing countries in the world for cutting road deaths. After decades of carnage on our roads, the trend was reversed and Ireland was the seventh safest country out of 27 EU member states in road deaths per million population.<\/p>\n

A combination of tougher penalties and enforcement for drink-driving offences, speed cameras and hard-hit\u00adting mass media campaigns from the RSA meant our roads were safer and the numbers continued to fall dramatically. By 2012 road fatalities were at a record low. But the downward trend didn\u2019t continue and road deaths have risen in three out of the last four years. In 2014, a staggering 193 people were killed on Irish roads. We have come a long way since 1972, when 640 people died on Irish roads, but the recent increase should force us to rethink our approach to road safety.<\/p>\n

Accident statistics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newly published accident statistics from the RSA and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in their provisional review of 2016 road fatalities shows that increases are particularly evident among passengers and older road-users but males, especially younger men, are more likely to die on the roads than women. Of the 82 driver fatalities, 64 were male; 20 male passen\u00adgers were killed out of a total of 38; 26 pedestrian fatalities were male and nine were fe\u00admale; 20 male motorcyclists were killed out of total of 22; and of the 10 cyclists that lost their life, eight were male.<\/p>\n

Enforcement<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Weak enforcement has long been attributed for the failure to prevent road crashes. Figures released last year from a detailed RSA analysis of data from 2008 to 2012 show that one in three fatal crashes involved drivers going too fast for the driving conditions, while alcohol was a factor in 38pc of fatalities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Garda Traffic Corps<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The steady decline in the numbers in the Garda Traffic Corps has recently been cited by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport as a possible reason for the number of road fatal\u00adities rising again. The Garda Traffic Corps currently oper\u00adates with 709 officers, down from 885 in 2012, and it seems likely that the visible presence of more garda\u00ed has a direct correlation to road safety and the perceived risk of being caught.<\/p>\n

Alcohol<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our relationship with alcohol and driving is also a significant factor. Among the measures currently under consideration by the minister is to reduce the cur\u00adrent blood alcohol concen\u00adtration (BAC) limit of 50mg for fully licensed drivers to 20mg. At these levels a glass of beer would put a driver over the limit and there are many who argue that it would put an end to the \u2018one for the road\u2019 mentality and disconnect the notion of drinking and driving. Many European countries have already made the move, with Sweden, Poland, Slovenia and Estonia enforcing .02 limits, and Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia adopting .00 BAC limits.<\/p>\n

Technology<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Meanwhile, our cars are getting safer as new technol\u00adogy can help the driver to avoid crashes or minimise the severity of injury if an ac\u00adcident occurs. However, the average age of the Irish vehi\u00adcle fleet is over nine years, so it will take several years for the benefits of recent safety features to impact on the second-hand market.<\/p>\n

Road safety concerns may be a global problem but there are certainly countries that fare better than others. According to a 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) Report, Ireland has 4.1 road fatalities per 100,000, com\u00adpared to Sweden with 2.8 road fatalities per 100,000; an equivalent rate for Ire\u00adland would mean an average of 129 road deaths per year, almost 60 less than in 2016.<\/p>\n

Sweden’s Vision Zero<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Why do fewer people die on Swedish roads? In 1997, Sweden introduced their Vision Zero road safety strategy to foster an approach based on the principle that no loss of life on the roads is acceptable. The programme has helped reduced pedestrian deaths by nearly one-third in cities like Stockholm since 2000 and it is estimated to have saved around 145 lives over the first decade of Vision Zero. Based on developing safer roads, safer speeds and safer road users, planning and design has played the biggest part in reducing accidents. Roads in Sweden are built to prioritise safety over speed or convenience. Low urban speed limits, pe\u00addestrian zones and barriers that separate cars from bi\u00adcycles and oncoming traffic have helped. They have also implemented a \u20182+1\u2019 roads system where each lane of traffic takes turns to use a middle lane for overtaking.<\/p>\n

Strict policing has also helped. However, it is worth noting in Sweden enforce\u00adment has little to do with raising revenue; it is about being most effective, as exemplified by the less than 0.25 per cent of drivers test\u00aded for drink driving found over the alcohol limit.<\/p>\n

Making roads safer<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Simply introducing the Swedish road safety strategy is not going to yield the same results on Irish roads but it is clear that there are lessons to learn from it. Measures that could be implemented successfully here include incorporating road safety features into land-use, urban planning and transport plan\u00adning; designing safer roads and requiring independent road safety audits for new construction projects; pro\u00admoting public transport; ef\u00adfective speed management by police and through the use of traffic-calming measures; enforcing laws requiring the use of seat-belts, helmets and child restraints; and setting and enforcing appropriate BAC limits for drivers.<\/p>\n

As road users we all need to move on from the blame culture approach that blames passengers for not wearing seat belts, cyclists for not knowing road rules and pedestrians for cross\u00ading our paths. Instead we all need to accept personal responsibility and work in partnership with all road users to improve road safety.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Geraldine Herbert<\/strong><\/p>\n

24th January, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2016 saw another increase in the number of fatalities on our roads. Geraldine Herbert argues that enforcement is only part of the solution, and that all of us have a role to play in reducing the number of deaths On average almost 16 people were killed on Ireland’s roads every month in 2016, 187 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,117],"tags":[413,976,2949,2948,89,2950],"yoast_head":"\nWe all need to join the drive for safe roads - wheelsforwomen.ie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/need-join-drive-safe-roads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We all need to join the drive for safe roads - wheelsforwomen.ie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2016 saw another increase in the number of fatalities on our roads. 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