Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions. There is a common thread running through all of the presentations even if witnesses are coming to the issues from different perspectives. The harmonisation of sanctions is a critical issue for this country. Witnesses referred to the 27 EU states, many of which have penalty points systems in place and it is illogical that there has not been a harmonisation of those systems across the EU. If that were done it would sort out the 2% of drivers who are licence-swapping or points-swapping.

I wish to ask Mr. Faughnan or Mr. Brett about driver testing. Much of the practical driver test today involves testing day-to-day driving skills in a very safe environment. However, as has been outlined, many fatal accidents are caused by dangerous over-taking but I have yet to see a learner driver being taught how to overtake safely. It is a very important element of driving but it seems to me that learners are not taught how to do it safely. Similarly, they are not taught about driving in hazardous conditions, such as on icy roads. That does not form part of driver testing or driving lessons. Until we grapple with such issues, we will continue to deal only with the day-to-day safety issues, while ignoring the more extreme driving conditions that learners may face on the roads on a daily basis.

Mr. Doyle stated that 92% of fatal accidents were attributable to driver error or, at least, driver error was a contributory factor. I presume the other 8% are attributable to poor road conditions or to issues such as livestock on roads. With regard to the latter, there seems to be an increasing incidence of deer on roads in certain parts of the country and I know of accidents that have happened as a direct consequence. I am specifically interested in whether road conditions are the main cause of the 8% of accidents referred to earlier. The camber and surface of roads are important, as are inappropriate speed limits on certain roads. The point should be pressed home to drivers that speed limits are not a target but a limit and that they should always drive at a speed suited to the conditions of the road. What level of discussion takes place between the RSA, the NRA and the local authorities with respect to the condition of local and tertiary roads?

Witnesses provided interesting statistics on the use of mobile telephones and I know that Mr. Doyle's area is statistics. It is quite obvious the speed camera system we have will identify a licence plate, issue a photograph and the penalty points notice is probably not touched by a human hand until the driver receives it through the post. Similarly, speed guns capture a definitive offence automatically. However, with mobile telephone use it is the word of one person against another and if a driver disputes the matter, it could end up in court. No member of the Garda Síochána is happy with that situation. The driver could claim that it was a box of cigarettes, a dictaphone or some other item in his or her hand. Until gardaí have cameras on their person or in patrol cars, that difficulty will remain. Perhaps the Garda Commissioner and superintendents need to incentivise gardaí to bring more evidence-based reports to court. We have all seen drivers using mobile telephones. As public representatives, we drive a lot and we have all seen widespread mobile telephone use by car and truck drivers, as well as by gardaí themselves, it must be said. It is quite right that the witnesses have highlighted this problem but the solution lies with gathering the evidence.