Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Olivia Mitchell, on its introduction. While I appreciate the introduction of penalty points initially resulted in a decrease in road fatalities, public awareness soon declined and we have reverted to our bad old ways. It is clear that speeding together with the use of alcohol and drugs are the main reasons for our continuing high levels of road accidents, especially in the early hours of the morning. We must provide the law and the manpower to minimise this so as to protect the lives of drivers and other road users.

Deputy Mitchell highlighted the recent case where a person caught driving a car at 200 km/h, although convicted of dangerous driving, was not subjected to disqualification or endorsement. This indicates either that the courts are not dealing with the issue as they should do or that they do not have the law on their side. Gardaí feel utterly helpless in such situations.

Imagine the anger a driver must feel on hearing of such cases when he or she, having crossed slightly over the white line at a stop sign at 3 a.m., with no cars other than a Garda car in the vicinity and having taken no alcohol or drugs, receives two penalty points and a fine. I realise gardaí have a job to do but it is vital that common sense plays some role in how the law is administered. There is some perception that it is more a case of collecting fines than saving lives.

As the representative of a largely rural constituency, I am conscious of the poor quality of roads many cars and lorries must negotiate. The driver of a truck that is 8 ft. 6 in. wide and 40 ft. long and travelling on a regional road that is itself only 15 ft. wide will do well to stop with the wheels exactly before the white line. The drivers of such vehicles must often stop when they encounter other drivers. Many of these drivers many be breaking road traffic laws. It is vital that laws are realistic and workable and that they are implemented.

I strongly agree with the indexation of fines. It is important that fines are updated and bear some relevance to the crime committed. It is equally important, however, that fines should be attached to earnings. The Fine Gael Bill that was brought before this House should be passed into legislation so that the massive amount of fines that have never been collected can be attached to either income or social welfare as a constant reminder to those concerned that they have broken the law and must pay accordingly. A young man from my area was fined some £1,700 and ended up in Mountjoy Prison. He was soon out the door and given £20 to get him back home and he was home before the gardaí. The attachment of fines to earnings is of great importance.

Deputy Mitchell raised the issue of speed limits. The journey from Slane to Drogheda involves one of the most winding roads imaginable, a national secondary road. One can negotiate the bends at no more than 60 km/h but at each of those bends there is a sign indicating the speed limit is 100 km/h. On other roads, one can drive at 80 km/h when the limit should be less than 40 km/h. This is lunacy.

The Minister gave the local authorities the task of setting speed limits but they have totally failed to honour their responsibilities in this regard. A ludicrous situation has arisen.

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