Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the Dáil and update Members on road safety and the current progress against actions within the Government's road safety strategy 2021-23. The safety of all road users is the first priority for my Department. Travel and transportation is an essential component of social and economic life in this country and needs to be available, accessible and sustainable. Above all, it needs to be safe. I am sad to say, however, that in three out of the last four years, we have experienced an increase in road-related fatalities and serious accidents. This year is likely to see that trend exacerbated. As of this morning, there have been 155 fatalities on our roads in 2023. This will bring the total to the same as that for the entirety of last year, and we have two months still to go. The winter months tend to see an increase in road deaths above those in the earlier parts of the year. Each of the fatalities represents a devastating loss for families and communities across the country, and each serious injury has life-changing consequences.

While this trend is a negative one, I think it is important to briefly outline the progress that has been made in recent decades. Our first national road safety strategy began in 1998. One year previously, in 1997, we had 472 fatalities on our roads. That was a at a time when we had a lower population and far fewer vehicles on our roads. Over the course of that first strategy and its successors, we have witnessed a remarkable improvement in safety on our roads. While the trend was not always downward, we managed to reach record low of 137 fatalities in 2018. Although we have made great strides in the past 20 years, it is clear from the current trends that we must do a lot more to restore the downward trend of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. We are working on multiple fronts to address this problem.

The four main causes of road fatalities remain speeding, intoxicated driving, non-wearing of seat belts and distracted driving, all of which come down to driver behaviour. Irish data from a range of sources, including self-report surveys, observational studies, analysis of coronial data and collision figures, show concerning levels of these dangerous driver behaviours and in some cases a deterioration of attitudes around them. High levels of mobile phone usage are being reported by drivers in Ireland. Research from 2022 indicates that approximately one in four motorists are not only checking their phones, but writing messages while driving. Drug driving is also a serious concern. Data indicate that Irish drivers arrested for drug driving are typically male and under the age of 45. Cannabis, cocaine and benzodiazepines are the most commonly detected drugs.

Speeding remains one of the greatest risk factors on our roads.

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Most people know that speeding is dangerous and, yet, all too many continue to do it. Speed reduces the time people have to react and makes collisions more likely. It also makes it more likely that when collisions do happen they lead to deaths or serious injuries.

Last month, my Department published a speed limit review. This contains a range of recommendations focused on ensuring that we have safe and appropriate speed limits on all classes of roads. Among the key recommendations are the reduction in default speed limits on certain classes of roads, specifically in urban areas, national secondary roads and rural roads. Deputies will be aware that default speed limits for different classes of roads are set in legislation, while local authorities have the power to vary the limits on specific roads through their by-laws. This is because two roads of the same class could still have very different characteristics and local authorities are best placed to determine what is appropriate for each road in light of these circumstances. The Road Traffic Measures Bill 2023, about which I will speak more in a moment, will implement the changes to default speed limits, while my officials are working on the further implementation of the other recommendations of the review. In addition, the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 contains a range of provisions to improve road safety, including the roll-out of variable speed limits in response to adverse conditions, the further use of cameras to support safety, and measures to reduce the number of uninsured drivers and assist An Garda Síochána in its enforcement of road traffic legislation.

Another priority is to review our national driver testing curriculum and service in order that they are fit for purpose, future-proofed and can cope with changes in vehicle technology. This evaluation will be informed by additional research that is currently under way into changing driver behaviours. International best practice and research will be considered in order to produce recommendations on improving driver education in Ireland. I am pleased to say that earlier this month my Department conveyed a sanction to the Road Safety Authority to commence this really important project.

Deputies will be aware that the Government recently approved the drafting of the Road Traffic Measures BiIl 2023. This short and focused Bill aims to address a number of important issues which will contribute to road safety. I was pleased to speak with the Oireachtas joint committee about its provisions yesterday. I am committed to putting in place the measures required to reduce the worrying trend we are currently experiencing. Given the urgency, the Bill will follow a different path to the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 which had more than 50 sections and took many years to complete. Instead, this will be a short and focused Bill. I intend that it will be progressed over the coming weeks helping to ensure we do not see a repeat of this year's deaths and serious accidents during 2024.

I will now outline the main issues to be addressed in the Bill. Penalty points were first introduced in Ireland under the Road Traffic Act in 2002. The goal of penalty points is to encourage safer driver behaviour and vehicle maintenance standards. As penalty points for specific offences are set out in a table in a schedule in the 2002 Act any change in points requires an amendment to this Act. This makes it difficult to respond in a timely way to changing requirements in road safety and enforcement of driving offences. By contrast, the fixed change system introduced at the same time as penalty points allowed the Minister to set the level of fixed charges in regulations. The Bill proposes moving the setting of penalty points into secondary legislation. However, colleagues should note that in order to ensure that the Houses of the Oireachtas retain a right to give input and vote on any changes to penalty points, the Bill proposes that resolutions from both Houses would be required for any change in penalty point regulations to take effect.

The 2002 Act also specifies that where a person commits more than one penalty point offence on the same occasion, they will receive only one set of penalty points, which would be the highest or joint highest. In contrast, someone who commits these offences on separate occasions received penalty points for each offence. This is a legal inequity on the basis that a driver who commits several offences at different times may attain 12 points and be disqualified where another driver who commits the same offences on the same occasion may not be disqualified. This Bill will repeal the sections causing this anomaly. Drivers will retain the right not to pay the fixed charge notice and can contest the charge in court if they wish. It is important to note also that where people commit multiple serious breaches of road traffic law on a single occasion, An Garda Síochána has the discretion to choose the most appropriate path by either issuing fixed charge notices for the individual offences or by prosecuting a person with an offence such as careless or dangerous driving, or driving a dangerously defective vehicle. Again, a driver may choose to contest any charges in court.

Data from the Road Safety Authority shows that almost half of fatalities this year occurred between Friday and Sunday. Although night time features lower traffic volumes it features a higher number of collisions. Evidence suggests that these periods present greater risks in terms of driver behaviour such as drink and drug driving and fatigue. This is particularly true on bank holiday weekends. The Bill will propose to allow for higher penalty points where we can vary the penalty points for specific periods such as bank holiday weekends. A similar system operates successfully and effectively in many parts of Australia and has been shown to have a tangible impact on driver behaviour when linked with clear communications campaigns. Under the Bill, the Minister for Transport will be empowered to set higher penalty points for periods of time such as those weekends and research indicates increasing points for specified periods is likely to have a positive impact on driver behaviour. We would of course have to accompany this change with rigorous evaluation of the impact of increased penalties and driver awareness campaigns around the specific periods.

At present, members of An Garda Síochána are required to take a breath specimen for the purposes of testing for the presence of alcohol at the scene of road traffic accidents. This is known as mandatory alcohol testing. Gardaí are not however required to conduct a drug test at the scene of a collision. Instead they have the option to do so. While gardaí sometimes do conduct such tests at the scene of collisions we are proposing to make drug testing mandatory on the same basis as alcohol testing. I hope Deputies will agree that this will further strengthen safety on our roads.

Deputies will be aware of the recently published speed limit review I mentioned earlier. The review recommends a number of changes to the speed limit framework which will require a legislative amendment. The Bill will include provisions for the implementation of key recommendations. It will amend the default speed limits for national secondary roads, local and rural roads and urban roads including in built-up areas. The default speed limit for national secondary roads will go from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, the default limit for local rural roads will reduce from 80 km/h to 60 km/h, and the default limit in built-up urban areas will come down from 50 km/h to 30 km/h. It may be of interest to Deputies that Dublin is one of the only regions not to see an increase in fatalities this year. It is also the region that has the most 30 km/h zones. The implementation of these speed limit review measures will require to be managed with local authorities for by-laws to be revised as well as for consultation in the reviews. Lowering the speed limit on all of these classes of road will have an important impact on road safety. In particular, fatality records show that rural roads are the most dangerous in the country and lowering the speed limit on these roads from 80 km/h to 60 km/h will make a real difference for the safety of all road users.

I assure the Dail that it is still the Government's goal to halve the number of road deaths and injuries by 2030 and to implement the goal of vision zero by 2050. Recent trends serve as a reminder to us all that we cannot be complacent about road safety. Reducing the number of road deaths and serious injuries will only be achieved if we all highlight the importance of road safety and promote conversations on the topic in our homes, with our families and friends and in our places of work. As individuals, we must make a commitment to use the road safely and as I said earlier the four main causes of road fatalities are speed, intoxicated driving, non-wearing of seat-belts and distracted driving. The new Bill will help encourage safer driving behaviours across all of these areas and will reform the penalty points system, and allow for the expedited response to trends on our roads as they emerge. Mandatory drug testing at the scene of collisions will ensure that all drivers involved in crashes who have illegal substances in their systems will be caught and held responsible for their actions. The implementation of key recommendations from the speed limit review will greatly increase safety on our roads and, in particular, protect vulnerable road users across the country. I acknowledge the work of the officials in my Department and in the different agencies who are delivering many of the actions in the road safety strategy and I commend the efforts to improve road safety as we approach the end of 2023.

I assure the Dáil of my personal commitment to road safety and to supporting efforts to bring about the changes needed to reduce the number of unnecessary deaths and injuries to all who use our roads in their daily lives. I look forward to hearing Deputies' contributions.

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