Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the panel for their contributions this morning. There were some very interesting contributions from members also. I came late but I was listening to proceedings on the monitor in my office.

I seek the panel's views on the issue of culture. We cast our minds back to the 1990s and the shocking figures referred to earlier. The 1997 figure was appallingly high at something like 472. If we go back even further to the 1970s, there were over 600 fatalities per annum on Irish roads. If one consider how many fewer miles were travelled per annum in those years, it is appalling to consider those figures. There were factors, including poorer infrastructure, lack of driver training, a drink driving culture, poor motor vehicle technology and a lack of seat belt wearing. I hope that in 2040 people look back at 2015 and say, "By God, it is shocking that between 150 and 200 people died on Irish roads that year". I say I hope that because if it is the case, the figures will be substantially lower then. How do we get to that? I remember seeing recently that in 1970, when compulsory seat-belt wearing was introduced, people said it was the nanny state gone mad. That was the culture of the time. One of the things that has held back the putting in place of more proactive road safety measures is the fear from politicians of measures being considered draconian and over the top. What I consider to be completely over the top is that we accept as a society that to get from A to B, almost 200 people will die on our roads. How do we tackle that? How do we apply the thinking of 2030 or 2040 today, which is what we need to do? Had we applied 1990 thinking in the 1970s, one would have saved thousands of lives.

Should we be looking at embracing modern technology further including alco-locks to prevent one from starting and operating a vehicle where one is over 50 mg or one's breath shows one has alcohol on board? Should we embrace GPS so that if one speeds in a 50 km/h zone, one will be fined? Should we look at what we have done with HGVs where there is a limiter? I saw a car recently in one of the Sunday papers with a top speed of 260 km/h, or something similarly ridiculously high. The fastest one can travel legally on any Irish road is 120 km/h. Why do we have vehicles capable of doing that and why are they not limited? There is an element of danger in overtaking, but one should not be overtaking anything faster than the speed limit that is imposed.

Should we consider requiring limiters? I am sure there are people who might be watching these proceedings and thinking the suggestion is completely over the top because it will slow down traffic. However, we need to ask ourselves as a society what price we are willing to pay to save a couple of hundred lives over the next decade. It could be thousands of lives. That is the broader question. I am interested in hearing the panel's views on what is not being done that could be done to save lives.