Sean Barrett (Independent)

I join other Senators in welcoming the Minister. We have made great strides, for which I commend the Minister and his predecessors. However, if we were starting from scratch and knew an activity would entail the deaths of nearly 200 people every year, we would be stopped in our tracks. We have ignored this problem. As the Minister pointed out, the figure used to be over 600 people killed on the roads every year. The RSA estimates the cost of accidents at well over €500 million, not to mention the human suffering and misery caused. We need safe transport. In that respect, what is before us is commendable.

Looking at the list of fatalities, I see that driver behaviour was a factor in 81% and drink driving in 37%. Pedestrians accounted for 12%. We must, therefore, tackle the drink problem, in regard to which I fully support the Minister. There are alternatives available to him. He should open up bus services in rural areas. Since 1932, we have spent our time stopping bus companies. After 79 years of preventing bus competition, those who were not meant to be there own 79% of the buses in use. It is time to let them off. There is the school bus service. There are buses in every locality that bring people to football matches on a Sunday and into towns during the week. The other alternative is to designate in advance the person whose turn it is to drive. That works. Younger people have a much more sensible approach to this problem.

The Bill makes it clear that one will not be able to drink and drive. In this regard, I commend the Minister for lowering the limits for younger people. Until recently drink driving has been the major cause of death among males under 35 years. Another Senator has pointed out that death by suicide has, unfortunately, taken over top spot. This is serious for males under the age of 35 years. Alcohol features prominently in single vehicle crashes, about which we hear so much. We must, therefore, use whatever method we can, whether it be sports heroes or whoever can appeal to this group to desist from engaging in this practice which is so damaging to themselves and their families. We all recall groups such as Mothers Against Drink Driving in County Meath. As such deaths cause misery for generations, we have to deal with the problem.

I note with concern that the level of compliance with speed limits can be as low as 14% and 16% in urban areas and that there was a huge increase in the level of non-compliance in rural areas when speed limits were converted to metric figures in 2005. There was a 94% non-compliance rate among those driving articulated trucks. I would commend the Minister and his officials if they were to get the Garda to clamp down on this practice. The limits are not discretionary; speed is a major cause of accidents.

Some of those involved in single vehicle accidents and other accidents are people who are fatigued after driving for many hours and so on. The Minister might like to explore this issue with some of his interrnational counterparts. The European Conference of Ministers of Transport has been absorbed into the OECD. I gather there is technology available where the ignition will not work if a person cannot perform in a certain number of alertness tests. It will be interesting to see if the Minister and his continental colleagues can introduce such technology in order that when somebody's concentration starts to lapse, the so-called intelligent vehicle will not start. Where young people travel together - I refer again to the 18 to 35 years age group rather than children - the number not wearing a seat belt is high. As the Minister noted, it is elementary these days that people in the back seats of cars should wear seat belts. While one may be surprised to hear of back seat passengers being injured or killed in car crashes, this group tends to be the one that does not wear seat belts. A case can be made for running an awareness campaign on this issue.

Alcohol is a factor in 38% of road traffic accidents involving pedestrians. I also gather that the majority of pedestrians killed in road traffic accidents are aged over 65 years. Is there scope for distributing high visibility jackets with the free travel pass and telling people to enjoy the train and bus as they may no longer be as mobile as they once were? The figures show a problem with elderly pedestrians being killed on the roads.

Alcohol was found to be a factor in 62% of single vehicle accidents and 90% of drivers involved in such accidents were found to be male. It would be of value to introduce a concentrated programme, similar to some of the successful programmes the Road Safety Authority has implemented, geared towards male drivers.

A regional problem is also evident. I note in the county statistics that Donegal, with a population of 147,000 in 2010, had 19 road deaths, while Dublin, with a population of 1.5 million, had 21 road deaths. Does this give rise to a need for cross-Border co-operation on the issue between the PSNI and Garda Síochána? County Cavan recorded 11 deaths in 2010 or about half the number of County Dublin which has a population 22 times greater. There is a fear in Border areas that people from the adjoining jurisdiction ignore the law. From the recent figures, there appears to be a substantial possibility that being able to transfer penalty points from County Fermanagh to County Cavan or County Derry to County Donegal would pay a dividend in achieving the goal we all seek, namely, reducing the number of accidents.

I referred to the 18 to 34 and 65 plus age groups and the preponderance of men in single vehicle accidents. I do not know the reason for the high level of non-compliance with seat belt regulations among the 17 to 24 years age group. A campaign geared towards this group would be welcome given the success of a similar campaign focused on children.

I will refer briefly to the road network. Data indicate a spectacular success in converting the road from Dublin to the Border at Jonesborough to motorway. The accident rate on motorways is half what it was on dual carriageways which, in turn, is half of what it was on single carriageways. I am concerned at attempts by the National Roads Authority to persuade the Minister to place toll booths at intervals of every 100 yards or whatever on the M50. To do so would divert drivers on to other roads on which the accident rate would increase by a factor of perhaps four. We built the motorways to a high standard and they have been successful in reducing accidents. For this reason, I caution against any strategy that prices people off them. The results of motorway safety programmes have been spectacular.

While I do not have legal training, having examined the regulatory impact analysis, I may table amendments on Committee Stage in respect of the provision that a person should have ten days to produce a driving licence. If a person has a vehicle worth tens of thousands of euro and a wallet full of credit cards, why does he not have a driving licence and why would one wait for ten days for him to produce it? The licence may be produced at any Garda station which means the garda on duty must verify that it has been produced. Why not require people to have a driving licence on their person? In light of proposals to introduce a credit card type driving licence, people should be required to carry their licence in their wallet or purse. I presume also that the production of a driving licence at a Garda station at a different location would delay the Garda investigation. It is strange that a period of ten days for producing a driving licence is being provided for.

The comprehensive spending review must set the tone for what the Government will do to address our problems with the IMF rescue and so forth. An bord snip recommends that the Road Safety Authority and the Rail Safety Commission be merged into a single transportation safety body. There is merit in that recommendation if savings can be made on administration costs.

I am concerned that reports on serious public transport crashes such as the bus crash on Wellington Quay in 2004, in which five people were killed and the report on which ran into the ground in 2009, will never be published. The fine imposed on CIE for its part in the Kentstown bus crash in 2005 was €2 million. Most mysterious of all, the collapse of the Malahide rail viaduct in 2009 is not even mentioned in the Department's annual report on rail safety, despite the fact that for four months the two main cities on this island had no rail connection. The Malahide sea scouts saw the fault and telephoned to tell someone about it. Happily, a driver saw the problem and stopped all traffic. However, 1,000 people had been on the four trains which had passed in a 20 minute period before the viaduct collapsed. This fact seems to have escaped the Department's memory. Providing for the comprehensiveness evident in the road safety budget, with which the Minister is dealing with the relevant agency, to be applied to bus and train services would be an advantage. I am surprised that major safety considerations are not addressed adequately in the Department's 2009 annual report.

I offer these suggestions. I commend the Minister who is seeking to tackle a major source of sorrow in the community and I am delighted every Member of the House supports him in that endeavour. The figure of 600 fatalities was appalling and 200 is still too high and should be much lower. I note that the nomenclature has changed concerning what used to be called "road accidents". They are not accidents, rather they are caused by people who practise unsafe behaviour which the Minister has made commendable attempts to tackle. I support the Bill.