Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the recent reduction in speed limits on local rural roads. I also welcome the forthcoming reduction in speed limits on urban roads from 50 km/h to 20 km/h. The facts are absolutely undeniable that speed kills and reducing speed even by a small amount saves limbs and lives.

Research published by the Department of Transport shows there is "an extremely strong and fundamental relationship between speed and injuries." When speed limits were reduced to 30 km'h in Bristol in 2019, fatal injuries fell by 63%. Minor and serious injuries also fell. The same has been happening in Wales where speed limits were reduced by 20 mph or 30 mph. As a result, 100 fewer people were killed or seriously injured over the past year. Lower speed limits are a no-brainer when it comes to road safety. Anybody who says otherwise or lobbies or argues otherwise is suffering from a serious case of car brain.

Another major factor in the increase of casualties on our roads is the trend towards outsized SUVs and pick-up trucks. Only this week we heard of an awful death, the killing of eight-year old André Castro Ladeiro by a man driving a Ford Ranger Wildtrak SUV pick-up truck. André was crossing the road after waiting for the green man at a zebra crossing. In his victim impact statement, André's father, Cesar, said:

The bang and him disappearing. I saw it then and every day since. No braking lights on that Ford Ranger Wildtrak. André was just a leaf in the road for that driver.

Andre's mother said:

There are countless days when I feel lost and I just want to feel close to him. Living this terrible trauma is also André's brother who witnessed everything at only five-years old. The impact on his life is unspeakable.

In sentencing André's killer, the judge said:

People who drive these vehicles in urban areas where there are a lot of houses have an increased burden of care. It is not the same as driving a car.

It certainly is not. Children are eight times more likely to be killed when hit by an SUV or a passenger truck than by a car, yet the car industry keeps selling, advertising and pushing them. Every 300 kg increase in vehicle weight increases the risk of fatal injury by 30% for vulnerable road users. The risk of fatal injuries also increases with bonnet height. SUVs and pick-up trucks are also far more likely to hit people, particularly children, in the first place because they have a much larger blind spot. Despite this, the car industry continues to promote these lethal weapons because they are more profitable to produce than regular cars. The result is more than half of all new cars sold now are SUVs. They have become the second biggest driver of climate change globally over the past decade. It is time to call a halt.

Last year, I introduced a Bill to ban the advertising of fossil fuels and fossil fuel vehicles, which would go a long way towards reducing the demand for SUVs. The evidence in road safety shows that electrified SUVs are just as dangerous as fossil-fuelled ones. We need to go further. We need a ban on large SUVs from urban areas. Nobody should be driving around in a glorified truck unless they are a truck with a HGV licence or there is a particular recognised societal need for it. I will introduce a Private Member's Bill to do that shortly.

I have also raised the need for appropriate funding for schools seeking a school traffic warden. It is a terrible situation when schools and parents have to campaign for school traffic wardens. I will give the example of Riverview Educate Together National School in my constituency. I will quote from a mother who speaks about her daughter being in junior infants and a keen cyclist. She said:

I’m grateful for the cycle lanes from Perrystown Community Centre to Limekiln Lane which makes me feel safer. The junction from Mountdown Park on to Limekiln Road feels extremely dangerous and I insist that my five year old avoids it. A school warden would help us to feel a lot safer at this busy junction.

South Dublin County Council needs to review and revisit this decision.

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