Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 30 June 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

General Scheme of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019: Minister for Transport

Photo of Steven MatthewsSteven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious of everybody's time so I will speak to pre-legislative scrutiny on the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2019. I thank the Minister for attending the meeting. This will, probably and hopefully, be our final pre-legislative session on this Bill and the committee can then produce a report based on the evidence of the witnesses with which it has engaged, including Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the National Transport Authority, NTA, and the Road Safety Authority, RSA. We will make suggestions and observations based on the evidence of those witnesses and the Minister's responses today so that we can allow this Bill to proceed to the next Stage as soon as possible.

The Bill is wide-ranging. It covers many areas that needed to be addressed. It brings clarity to a number of areas of road traffic interaction with pedestrians and other road users and public transport, in particular the varied speed limits which I know are being trialled on the M50. I am aware that TII has been talking about that for many years. As somebody who is often caught on the M50 in tailbacks that seem to develop out of nowhere, I can see the real advantage of that. Often there is no apparent reason for a tailback and it is just a cascade effect at junctions. The varied speed limit will address that issue. It will reduce the likelihood of crashes or conflicts because when traffic is moving, drivers tend to be more satisfied than when they have to continually, stop, start and jump lanes. That provision is a welcome addition to the legislation.

The issue of e-bikes was raised and discussed. There are a variety of them being used on our roads. Some of them resemble motorbikes more than battery-operated bicycles.

I saw one the other day and I could not work out whether there was a key to start it or what it was. We need to tighten up on that and give clarity to people on what exactly an e-bike and a propelled vehicle propelled by pedal and battery assistance are.

The regulation on scramblers is needed. Scramblers and quads have no place in public parks or amenities, unless it is for maintenance by authorised people. We have seen terrible accidents happen in public places. It is time to tighten up on that as well as on the ownership and use of such vehicles. I welcome that.

I am interested to see the opportunity for automated vehicle testing. We always think that automated vehicles are something that are way off in the future and we will not see them here, but we have seen the speed of technology in various things throughout Covid. It is only a matter of time before we start seeing them here. I welcome their inclusion in the Bill. It is something we can expand on in the future. It is good to get it into primary legislation so that, when we start to address it, we are ready to move, up to speed and able to address it in a timely fashion.

I am glad the issue of fines has been addressed. I note the third option whereby people will get a prompt and a penalty payment and be told they will be going to court in seven days. It gives people an option to get out of it at that stage, pay a fine and not clog up the courts system. That is of benefit. All in all, I am fairly satisfied with the Bill and range of items it covers. I look forward to the committee compiling our pre-legislative scrutiny report and putting forward our submissions and observations that the Minister may take on board for amendments to the Bill when it is drafted.

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