Derek McDowell (Labour)

In anticipation of this debate, last night I read the Road Safety Strategy 2004-06. It makes for interesting reading and it is quite obvious that many of the provisions in today's Bill are inspired by that strategy. One aspect of the strategy which struck me forcefully — I presume I understood the figures correctly — was the statistics for road fatalities over the decades.

In a sense there are two associated messages in this regard. I agree with Senator Norris that we are somehow inured to the effect of fatalities on the roads — we expect them. However, in the 1970s and 1980s the number of fatalities was dramatically higher than is currently the case. For much of that time, between 550 and 650 people were being killed annually on the roads. The message I drew from that was that recent developments have been quite positive.

We must inform the public that it is possible to improve because we have made significant improvements, and we should not be complacent in accepting that 400 people must die on the roads every year. We can address this matter in a positive way because it is possible to do something about it. It is important this message gets out because complacency and fatalism are serious enemies in dealing with this issue.

In reading the strategy I was struck on a negative level by how little information we have as to what causes accidents and the amount of such information available to the Garda Síochána. We do not know in what percentage of fatal accidents drink or speeding were issues, or whether the cause was the condition of the car or the road. We cannot in any serious, analytical way determine the major contributory factors, which is a great pity.