Mary Henry (Independent)

I did not think anything had been done. Certainly it had not when I last asked of the Department. Bull bars festoon the front of these vehicles in the suburbs. A friend of mine, recently returned from Australia, was horrified to see them. They are known as roo bars in Australia, where they were first introduced because of kangaroos on the road. I have not met any kangaroos, whatever about bulls, in Ballsbridge but people are driving around with their cars festooned with bull bars. The fatality rate, if one is hit by such cars, is very high. I suggest there are many useful actions we could take at once.

The Irish Medical Organisation suggested that purchasers of SUVs should be warned about how dangerous they are for pedestrians. Many are being used as family cars. The fatality rate for pedestrians hit by such vehicles is 2.5 times greater than for a standard car. The same situation applies for small children, particularly in the driveways of houses because, as Senator Mansergh has said, driver vision is very limited when reversing even if one has convex mirrors or a wide angle lens. Perhaps we should consider a more rigorous driving test for such vehicles, similar to that for heavy vehicles.

It is appalling the way people persist in parking on footpaths, the only place where pedestrians are supposed to be able to travel safely. I was near a primary school in the Nutgrove area yesterday and saw numerous cars, including SUVs, parked all along the footpath. A friend of mine told me of a lollipop lady she knows who recently resigned her post because she was on the receiving end of considerable cheek from the owners of vehicles when she asked them to refrain from parking on the footpath, which was making it difficult for her to ensure that the children crossed the road safely. Courtesy seems to have left many drivers. We should do something to encourage a resurgence in common courtesy.

I was delighted when Mr. Gay Byrne was appointed to lead the road safety authority because he is a great man for capturing the public imagination. He also has the trust of large numbers of the public and I am sure he will be a great spokesman for the authority, which I wish every success.