Calls for real-time data on road traffic collisions on Cork's South Link Road

Real-time data on road traffic collisions on the South Link Road should be made available and collated, public representatives have urged.

Although organisations such as Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) do compile data on road crashes, there is a gap in terms of this data being made readily available in real-time, with local councillors among those advocating for a real-time dashboard of information.

Speaking to The Echo, Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, Lord Mayor of Cork, said he believes real-time information on road traffic could assist with road safety.

“I have been a long-time advocate for real-time information on traffic incidents,” he said.

“There is a perception that a lot of the traffic build-up on the South Ring Road is caused by persistent collisions.

“With LED information signs, there is a possibility of having a sign on that particular roadway saying something like ‘X number of days without a collision’. That type of information in real-time, I think, would assist with and encourage better driver behaviour.”

Meanwhile, Labour Party councillor for the city’s South East ward, Peter Horgan, who has put in a number of parliamentary questions and queries to Justice Minister Helen McEntee and the gardaí on this particular issue, has said frequent collisions on the South Link require intervention by authorities to safeguard commuters.

“I do think that we need to have a body, ideally the RSA, but we should have somebody who publishes the data real-time because the data is compiled, and the data is available somewhere,” he said.

“We just need to make ensure that we publish it, to identify it and see where we need to put resources into alleviating it.”

Mr Horgan added that a system used in France could be emulated in Ireland to ease traffic gridlock when a collision occurs.

“If you have a crash on a French motorway, there is a mobile towing unit that is able to move the crashed cars into the hard shoulder, and traffic can keep flowing.”

The Echo has contacted TII and the RSA for comment.