Professor Denis Cusack:

On behalf of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and as its director, I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for the kind invitation to present to and assist the committee in relation to the update on the road safety strategy for the period 2021-30.

Everybody here is aware of the number of deaths and injuries in Ireland as a result of road traffic crashes and the recent alarming increase in that number since the beginning of the year. I know that my colleagues from the RSA and the Garda are addressing and have addressed particular aspects of that strategy and for that reason I will emphasise the forensic and medical aspects of this topic as director of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and as a medical doctor within the context of the road strategy. The functions of the bureau are laid down in the Road Traffic Acts 1968 to 2016 and regulations under those Acts. Those functions are set out more plainly and summarised in the Medical Bureau of Road Safety annual report of 2020, a copy of which was sent to the committee. My colleague, Dr. Declan Bedford, was before the committee just a few weeks ago, and I am happy to follow up in respect of anything there.

I have been privileged to have been involved in each of the Government road safety strategies since the first in 1998, when the number of road fatalities in Ireland was 472 or 124 per million of population. The current strategy covers the period 2021-30. In 2021, the road fatality figure in Ireland was just under 41 per million of population. By any standard, this significant decline in deaths is a good news story, if the death and injury of even a single person can be described as such. However, we have had a very shocking reminder of how these figures are subject to stark change. In the year to date we will have heard that 83 people have died on our roads to 27 June, compared with 51 to the same date in 2021, although the change is not as stark if we go back to the pre-Covid year of 2019. That is shocking and it is why we must remind ourselves that these are not just figures – these are unique individuals with loving families and friends who are now lost to us. The number of serious injuries, with blighted lives, has also increased. This is the reminder of the constant challenge and the great leveller against our societal complacency about road safety.

We need to ask why this has occurred when we appeared to be on the right track towards Vision Zero. What if any differences have occurred in the first half of 2022 which might explain this deterioration in road safety? What are the factors on an evidence-based examination? Is it due to random or unrelated factors unique to each tragic incident? What can we do and how do we refocus our current road safety strategy? Factors causing road crashes include: speeding; non-use of safety belts and protective gear; dangerous and careless driving due to fatigue; inattention due to mobile phone use and so on; and of course driving under the influence of intoxicants. In order to tackle that last problem we must look across the entire spectrum of other factors. Are there statistical differences in road crashes and safety factors in gender, age, time of day, location, vehicle user type or vulnerable groups? The answer to these questions is yes, there are differences, but have they changed again recently?

Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs remains a very significant problem in Ireland. The Medical Bureau of Road Safety is the national, independent, statutory forensic body with responsibility for testing for intoxicants in Ireland and with a designated role in implementing safety actions and advising on these matters. Last year, a total of 5,862 blood and urine driver samples were received by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety for alcohol and drug testing, and more than 3,200 breath samples were tested for alcohol on the instruments in Garda stations. The number of blood and urine samples received this year to 27 June was 2,881, a 23% increase on the same period in the pre-Covid year of 2019. Alcohol remains the most frequently used intoxicant in driving. In drivers found positive for alcohol in 2021, the figures for those certified over the blood alcohol level equivalent of 100, which is twice the non-specified driver limit, were quite startling at 71% in blood, 71% in urine and 64% in breath.

Drug analyses results from the samples show: 2,498 confirmed positive for cannabis in 2021; 1,369 for cocaine; and 620 for benzodiazepines. That pattern has continued. An important Health Research Board study published on 8 June on substance use among young people found that cannabis remains the most commonly used illicit drug and that the use of stimulants, including ecstasy and cocaine, has increased in this age group with Ireland having the second highest use of these drugs in the European countries studied. This is an important confirmation of growing concerns for increased use of drugs other than alcohol by those of driver age. There needs to be an informed discussion on the issue of medicinal cannabis and cannabis use generally in society as well as the widespread non-therapeutic use of other drugs.

Methods of detection of drugs driving by means of roadside impairment testing and with particular emphasis on roadside drug testing have been developed substantially. Following a significant increase in the number available at the roadside since August 2020, the increased level of Garda enforcement and detection of drugs driving must be recognised. This is a positive story from the road safety strategy. Later this year the number of drugs which can be tested for at the roadside on the new devices being tested at present will increase from the current cannabis, cocaine, benzodiazepines and opiates to include amphetamine and methamphetamine. A more user-friendly system with increased roadside testing will soon be available to the Garda.

Actions 24, 31, 119 and 169 of the road safety strategy action plan are about impairment testing, increased sanctions for polydrug and drug and alcohol use while driving, alcohol interlocks and the preliminary roadside drug testing system to which I refer. In the debate on drugs and driving, we must ensure that drivers who are on medications that are properly prescribed and dispensed continue to take those medications. The medical fitness to drive guidelines in Sláinte agus Tiomáint are important. Road safety must also continue to be grounded in individual responsibility.

I will end on a positive note. The Government road safety strategy, launched by the Minister for Transport, led by the RSA and supported by the Department of Transport, encompasses an interagency collaboration. The structure of this approach and the active engagement through the road safety transformation partnership Board, which met earlier this afternoon, is challenging but innovative and I believe that it is the best structured strategy seen to date in this country. If implemented and supported, there is every hope and realistic expectation that it will reduce road crashes and the consequential deaths and serious injuries that cause incalculable grief to families and substantial economic loss to society.

I am pleased to assist the committee and to answer any questions arising. I thank the Chairman and members for their courtesy and attention.