John Dennehy (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on the Bill. I have listened to the last four speakers with interest. Like Deputy Crowe, I am concerned that the 54% of drivers who fail their tests are allowed to drive away. However, if the Minister introduced a regulation forcing such people to leave their cars at the testing centre and take a taxi home, would Sinn Féin support that change? The problem needs to be examined but such a measure would require widespread support.

Everything that has been attempted to deal with this problem has attracted sneering and sniggering. In such cases, people are happy to have a go at the Minister but not in a helpful fashion. Deputy Crowe mentioned the issue of people awaiting their NCT test and suffering a culture shock when their vehicles fail. I assure the House, however, that it is a far bigger shock when a car hits your vehicle on the road at 70 mph. I had that experience as a back-seat passenger. The accident put me and my two colleagues off the road for five or six months. It is a far greater shock than that suffered by people who are waiting for their NCT tests.

If I drive to Cork this evening after dark I will meet at least ten cars on the road with only one headlight working, despite the fact that there are fewer old cars on the road. The idea of the NCT test was to remove dangerous vehicles from the roads. People may argue that the NCT test is depriving them of their vehicles, but that is the difficulty — the béal bocht excuse is used against every change that is introduced. The sneering and sniggering that has gone on concerning the driving test and the NCT test is unhelpful.

Deputy Shortall and other Opposition speakers said the Minister was wrong and there was almost an element of gloating in their comments. The bottom line, however, is that we are losing 400 people a year in road accidents and the Minister is trying to do something about it. Every time the Government tries to do something there is opposition to it. Everyone in opposition has a view as to what should be done but when the Government tries to do something it is opposed. Deputies should be helpful and supportive instead.

The common thread in the last four contributions to this debate was that everyone bar the driver is at fault. According to previous contributors, the national testing authority, the testers, the Minister, his predecessor and everybody else was at fault except the drivers who are causing the accidents.

In the past, I heard the same arguments used against safety helmets and reinforced boots in dangerous situations. Every possible reason was used as to why people could not wear such safety gear. Approximately eight or nine years ago, I participated in a seat belt initiative with the local Garda chief superintendent in Cork. At first, I did not believe the Garda statistics that 54% of people did not wear seat belts. I felt that the figures could not be correct. I was fascinated later, however, at the number of friends and colleagues who told me why they could not wear seat belts. The answer is the same in both cases: if one cannot carry out the required safety procedures, one should not be able to drive or work in an unsafe environment. Let us get real about this. Testers are not causing road crashes and neither is the Minister for Transport. I am sure that his driver keeps within the speed limit most of the time.

Those of us who have been involved in road accidents or near accidents know what it is like. I recall seeing another driver approaching me at approximately 70 mph on the wrong side of a narrow country road in County Waterford. It was a harrowing experience.

Two days ago, I was driving towards a bend in County Laois when an articulated truck came towards me on the wrong side of the road. The driver was on a bend and had to cross a continuous white line to pass another articulated truck. It was on top of a hill near a bend where there were signs warning drivers not to overtake. If Laois County Council had not put hard shoulders on that road during the past 18 months, I could have been killed on Tuesday morning. That is a fact, and it has nothing to do with driving testers, it concerns drivers.

Deputy Pat Breen was correct in saying that we have a problem with the waiting list and we must deal with it. The purpose of the Bill is to establish the driver testing and standards authority.

Deputy Eamon Ryan said we were setting up a Fianna Fáil grouping but I do not know whether all the driving testers are in Fianna Fáil. Such cynical and gloating remarks have led us to a situation where we have the worst record in Europe, way ahead of anybody else. Such sneering and sniggering may be grand for Deputy Eamon Ryan on his bike, but the rest of us who decide to drive are entitled to a safe journey. I will not tolerate that kind of commentary. We are demanding that something be done about road safety and the Minister is tackling it. He is establishing the new authority to co-ordinate testing and safety standards.

At yesterday's meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts I asked the Secretary General of the Department of Transport about the €2.7 million funding for the National Safety Authority. I noted that it was a small amount of money considering the level of road fatalities and the value of one life, let alone 400. The Secretary General explained that a further €45 million went to the National Roads Authority to deal with safety and that other funding is scattered around also. It is time we had a body such as the proposed driver testing and standards authority that will be able to take the initiative on safety as well as other issues.

A previous speaker referred to the role of the Garda Síochána, but its role is not to prevent road fatalities, although hopefully that is a by-product of its job. The Garda Síochána's job is to enforce the rules of the road, but individual gardaí cannot police every single driver. We need to get real about the problem of poor driving standards, which annoys me. Most of all, I am annoyed that every time we discuss road accidents, people say they are caused by everyone but the drivers concerned. I am a responsible driver and know that I must drive within the speed limits, although it may not happen all the time. For instance, I would not drive while watching the speedometer to check if I am one or two kilometres per hour over the limit, but I am always within range of the limit and try to drive safely. The issues of drink driving or using defective vehicles are the responsibility of drivers and these matters must be enforced. It is annoying that people shy away from their responsibilities. It is always somebody else who is at fault. Accident levels are bad but we are not getting the point across. It is always somebody else's job to ensure accident prevention. Everyone must look at what he or she can do in this regard.

It is incredible that 54% of people do not accept the need to wear seat belts in cars. That is just one aspect of the problem. People still drive at reckless speeds. Last Thursday, I witnessed four incidents of dangerous driving within two miles of the Red Cow roundabout. The first took place at Newlands Cross where a young female driver crossed the Naas Road at least two or three seconds after the green light had come on for traffic on the main Dublin-Cork road. She took a chance to cross that road at full speed. A man turning right, again across the Naas Road, caused the second incident. He went into the median strip without any indication. This resulted in everyone having to jam on their brakes.

These are the kinds of incidents which are causing fatalities and they must be dealt with. Driving instruction has a big part to play in this matter. People are talking about the 54% driving test failure rate as if it were due to the testers. Deputy Crowe said the failure rate was due to bad Mondays, bad Fridays or bad testers. How stupid can we get? The reason is that people were not properly prepared for their tests or had not been properly trained. It is not the case that testers were wrong. That is typical of the general approach to road safety and it will have to change. As public representatives we will have to change as we are supposed to be leaders in the community. If a person comes whingeing to us about failing their test we should ask them the reason. We should ask what they did wrong and how many driving lessons they had before taking their test.

Another speaker referred to the need for a licence to drive a car. If one went to buy a gun or another dangerous weapon there would be all sorts of conditions attached to it. The difference with a car is that it is many times bigger and in most cases it is more lethal and more dangerous. A greater number of cars than ever before are on the roads. More cars were sold in the previous two months than ever before in an equivalent period, in spite of the claim by vehicle distributors last year that sales would fall dramatically because of our tax regime and that they would all go bankrupt. Lo and behold, we have seen the highest sales figures ever for January and February. We will have to provide a road network to cope with this increased capacity. We can all help by driving within the speed limits, avoiding drink driving, ensuring our cars are roadworthy and so on.

Insufficient lighting on cars is a particular problem. People ask how that can be the case with the stringent level of testing that is in place. Unfortunately, a car driver may not be aware that his or her headlight is gone. This is a crazy situation. They used to be called one-eyed monsters in the days when we had bad cars but we should be able to do better nowadays.

Observation of the rules of the road and generally showing courtesy are crucial. Unfortunately, manners on the road have disimproved significantly. People tend not to stop at orange lights. It is a stupid cliché to say that accidents will happen — they do not just happen; they have a cause. I respectfully suggest that in most cases the driver is at fault.

A TCD academic has made the case that up to 10% of fatalities could be as a result of suicide. I do not know and I do not have the expertise to comment on the matter. However, every fatality should be forensically analysed to discover the cause, in so far as that is possible. Where drink is involved this should be made known, albeit tragic for a family when a son or daughter is killed. In this way we can try to prevent it happening in future.

We are not dealing with the matter seriously enough at present. It took 3,636 deaths in Northern Ireland before people really knuckled down and became serious about preventing more deaths there. How many more people must be killed on the roads before we do something about it? I do not refer to the Minister and the Secretary General of his Department who are facing up to their significant responsibility in this regard; it is everyone's responsibility to ensure something is done. Everyone who drives is equally responsible for ensuring we do not have crashes resulting in serious injury or fatalities.

Perhaps we could frighten people more, as was the case in Northern Ireland where the financial cost of fatalities and serious accidents was pointed out, let alone the personal hardship. We must remember that in all cases accidents are caused. At some stage all drivers have probably thanked God they got away with something, be it overtaking carelessly or whatever. Driving is not getting any easier as the road network increases. I ask Deputy Eamon Ryan to take note of a point I made yesterday to the Secretary General of the Department that drivers are much safer on a dual carriageway or motorway than on a secondary road. I am entitled to have money spent to ensure my safety.

If one or two people were killed due to an environmental problem such as a poisoned water supply or whatever, an inquiry would be set up and we would take immediate action. We would work in a unified manner to prevent others being affected. Why cannot we do the same to prevent further road deaths? We must look seriously at the matter. I do not care what anyone says, we have not been taking the matter seriously enough.

The Minister sensibly introduced changes to the driving test to the effect that a driver should know something about the mechanical aspects of cars. Mr. Walsh from the Irish School of Motoring, which is one of the top driving schools, stated that the ability to change a wheel should also be included in the driving test. I accept this and I hope the Minister will alter the test in this regard in due course. It is probably the most common cause of stoppages for motor vehicles.

Let me refer to the response of some party spokespersons on this issue. Senator Morrissey stated that the changes were cosmetic and farcical. Deputy Olivia Mitchell stated the changes were farcical and amounted to tinkering at the edges. It is plain stupid to take that approach when somebody tries to improve matters. If only one life were saved as a result of people knowing more then it would be worthwhile.

The analogy with a gun can also be applied in this context. A person would be taken through all the dangers before buying such a weapon, yet if a person has enough money, he or she can buy a car without difficulty. That has to change and I urge the Minister to do something about it. He has a common sense approach to things. I hope he will do something about it.

The issue of people failing their test and driving away on their own is important. It was the case that one needed to have a fully qualified driver in the car. If a person fails the test, by implication he or she is incapable of driving safely on the road. This issue must be dealt with.

According to statistics, at least 10% of those killed on the roads hold provisional licences. The indication that cars are being driven by holders of provisional licences is the display of L-plates, back and front. The Minister for Transport has given us a good run on the motorways and so on so that one can now drive at 62.5 mph in one area and 73 mph in another. However, it is daunting to be overtaken by a car displaying L-plates travelling at 90 mph or 95 mph. This issue must be examined because the credibility of the signs has gone.

Most drivers treat L-plates with respect so that, when they encounter a car with L-plates trying to cross a junction, they tend to give them due courtesy and recognition for the fact that they are learning — a position they might remember themselves. However, when one is passed on the Dublin to Cork or any other road at that speed, the learner driver is exceeding the speed limit or the plates are being misused and should be removed from the car. This is an issue which the Minister must examine in the context of safety.

In 2002, of the 346 people who were killed in fatal crashes, 313 had full licences and 33 had provisional licences. This represents more than10%. I am concerned about the plethora of groups dealing with safety issues. I have a particular hobby horse which I have raised on three occasions with the National Roads Authority which concerns pedestrian islands. Most of them feature a bollard which is erected for traffic calming purposes. I guess that 50% of these bollards — the blue boxes one can see on the roads — are levelled, which indicates that something is wrong. The problem is that people do not see the islands because the lighting in the area is usually bad. However, the NRA has refused point blank to fix reflective studs in the base of these islands. I raised this issue in the debate on the previous roads Bill so perhaps the Minister would examine the matter.

This is a topic which deserves everyone's attention. The Minister is correct that the new body will be more focused and flexible in taking initiatives because some change is needed. I wish the Minister well in his endeavours and commend the Bill the House.

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