RSA back Garda Commissioner's call for more static speed cameras

Vivienne Clarke

The chair of the Road Safety Authority, Liz O’Donnell has “wholeheartedly” welcomed an endorsement by the Garda Commissioner about statis speed cameras.

Ms O’Donnell told RTE radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show that she had met with the Commissioner in August following “those terrible tragic deaths in Tipperary” when he agreed to find a budget to increase by 20 percent for speed cameras.

GoSafe cameras “do actually work” as they deter people from speeding and they detect speeding, she said.

“It's very important that he states publicly that enforcement needs to be increased and he is proposing a rolling out of these average speed cameras. We only have two in the country at the moment and they absolutely work.

“They're used in other countries. And just two weeks after they were introduced on the M7 last year there was a 99.7 percent compliance rate. So they do work and they do slow down and change driver behaviour.

“These cameras actually change people's behaviour and are not there to actually criminalise people. They're there to actually change people's behaviour and deter people from speeding. Speeding is a current scourge on our roads. It is causing so many fatalities and serious injuries.

"Surveys are showing that people are routinely speeding and completely disregarding the speed limits. That's why we welcome the review of the speed limits, which the government is currently doing and is preparing the legislation now for that.”

When asked if she would like to see more Gardai on road policing units, Ms O’Donnell said “of course” she did. There had been 1100 dedicated roads policing personnel some years ago, this figure was now down to 650 which was a challenge for the Garda Commissioner and the Government in terms of recruitment and allocation of resources.

“I agree with Minister McEntee, the Minister for Justice, when she says we need visible and constant policing, and that's really only achieved by people on the ground, people at the side of the road visibly. And it's worth saying that 49 percent of the fatalities happened at the weekend and at night. We have evidence based strategies to put in place.”

Ms O’Donnell said that resources were also an issue for the Road Safety Authority which was struggling to complete all the actions it was required to do.

“We're struggling to complete all of the actions and we are required to do in our strategy because we lack the resources and the Garda Commissioner will need resources to put these in place, the average speed cameras and because they're expensive, I think each unit costs about €30,000 to €50,000. So you know it's going to cost money.”

The RSA was also concerned about the driving test and wanted to see the curriculum improved. “Young drivers are being killed and are being responsible for many crashes. But we need to improve that curriculum and that driving experience so that when people pass their test and they are novice drivers that they are much more aware of a new environment on the road.

“All of this, it's all part of our strategy. But we need to be resourced in the Road Safety Authority to do all the things that need to be done”