Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 18, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following:“Amendment of section 2 of Road Traffic Act 2004

22. The Road Traffic Act 2004, is amended in section 2, by the insertion of the following:

“ ‘housing estate’ means an area consisting of a self-contained group of dwellings with a single or multiple entry points for mechanically propelled vehicles;

‘residential road’ means a road, whether public or private, within an area defined as a housing estate.”.”.

Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 primarily deal with the matter of road safety, particularly for children and pedestrians in residential areas, inlcuding housing estates. Concerns raised were addressed through the Jake's Legacy campaign and also in Jake's law, but the main concern, as we are all aware, is speeding in residential areas which is a daily problem and not being addressed. While serious issues arise regarding local authorities providing funding to implement road safety measures, including ramps, chicanes and signage, what also needs to be looked at is the better design of residential estates to try to curb speeding.

On Committee Stage it was mentioned that local authorities had no powers to implement speed limits in housing estates that had not been taken in charge. There are thousands of such estates. This poses a real problem for their residents. I note that the Minister makes provision in the Bill for a 20 km/h speed limit, which is to be welcomed. However, will he commit to making a progress report or providing statistics in a year's time in the context of the requests to have a 20 km/h speed limit in residential areas and also for the compliance rate of local authorities? That would allow us gauge the success of the measure or determine if we needed to strengthen it. Local authorities use every excuse about having to combine many by-laws and so on. This causes delays, but where requests are made to have a 20 km/h speed limit through local authorities, I hope they will implement it.

See this speech in context