Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is very important that this Bill be debated properly and brought through the House. As the Minister pointed out, the Bill aims to improve safety on our roads and, hopefully, reduce collisions, fatalities and serious injuries. We have seen a 65% drop in road deaths between 1997 and 2012. Unfortunately, the statistic rose last year but we could not legislate for that which related to either collisions or driver behaviour. We have seen a reduction in fatalities ever since road traffic Bills have been introduced and improving safety and driver awareness.

Gardaí point out that young drivers aged between 21 and 25, especially young males, make up the main age group involved in road deaths. Another statistic from the Garda that is important to remember relates to speed limits, including those on country roads. A total of 63% of collisions occur on local and regional roads outside built-up areas and 80% of fatal collisions occur on roads with a speed limit of 80 km/h or above. Up to recently, 80 km/h was the speed limit on nearly every road in Ireland. A total of 56% of accidents involve single vehicle collisions with many of these occurring late at night. A terrible statistic is that 13% of people involved in fatalities last year were not wearing a seat belt, which is crazy. Seat belts are in vehicles for safety reasons regardless of whether one is a passenger or the driver.

Another issue relates to novice driver classes. As the Minister pointed out, there is a lower disqualification limit for learner and novice drivers through a change to the penalty points system. The Minister also pointed out other provisions such as the taking of blood samples from incapacitated drivers and an impairment test. Much of the 57% drop in road deaths since 2007 is due to road safety measures brought in over the past few years such as alcohol testing, increased enforcement by the Garda traffic corps, the new penalty points, increased sanctions and the development of the much-needed inter-urban road networks. However, I will compliment young people who have a better attitude than that of my generation. That is not to be critical of the views of anybody in this House and outside it regarding drink driving. Young people do not drink and drive. People of my age grew up at a time when, as the Minister said, drink driving was something that people did. Young people are much more sensible in respect of that and will take a taxi or have a designated driver.

I compliment young people who make those arrangements. The Minister has announced the introduction of a new road safety strategy called Closing the Gap, to run from 2013 to 2020. This aims to reduce the number of deaths on the road to 124 people by 2020. A total of 124 deaths are too many deaths but the reduction will be obtained by better safety measures, education, enforcement, engineering and evaluation. The Minister aims to introduce road safety campaigns in schools. I suggest he discusses a strategy for transition year students with the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and the relevant Ministers of State in the Department of Education and Science. Transition year provides students with the time to undertake projects. The Department of Education and Skills should consider providing driver instruction courses over the school year for transition year students. Some schools send their pupils to driver-training schools and they can see for themselves that a car can be a lethal weapon in the wrong hands. I suggest driver training could be introduced as a pilot project in some schools and could include instruction in car mechanics.

I refer to enforcement and the testing of motor vehicles. The NCT service has received bad press in the past but the NCT testing of cars has improved road safety and helped to reduce the number of fatalities and collisions as most vehicles are safer. I listened to a radio programme this morning which aired comments about the NCT service. Some people whose car had failed the test did not mind the result because at least a problem had been discovered. An alarming statistic quoted was that 1,800 cars failed the NCT test last year or were not permitted to be driven away from the NCT centre because they had been classified under code red due to their faulty condition.

This Bill is the latest in a long line of Bills to legislate for road traffic offences. Driver testing and licensing was introduced in 1961. Before that date, one could apply for and be issued with a driver licence. I know of older people in their 70s and 80s who are licensed to drive buses and heavy goods vehicles even though they have never taken a test in those vehicles. It could be argued that novice drivers are being hit hard. Young people are entitled to drive a car at 17 years of age but novice drivers will be required to post an "N" plate on the car once they have passed the test for a two-year transition period before a full licence is granted. A driver accumulating seven penalty points will lose his or her licence as will a driver with 20 mg of alcohol in the blood. These are important provisions in the Bill. If a novice driver accumulates six penalty points will those points be carried over to the full licence?

Only 4% of penalty points issued in 2010 were to young people under 25 years of age and this is a compliment to young people; 59% of penalty points issued were to full licence-holders. However, the crazy statistic is that nearly 37% of those who committed penalty point offences did not have a driver's licence. This is a issue of enforcement. When these people are brought through the courts for not having a driver's licence will the judge insist that they are tested for a driver's licence and that penalty points will be applied retrospectively?

The Minister made a good point about the demerit or penalty point systems applied to novice or young drivers in other countries. We are copying some of those. I welcome the Minister's statement that there will be drugs testing. We can test for alcohol with a breathalyser, but gardaí have no way to test for drugs. It is important that this test be included in the legislation. In Australia, police are allowed to take a swab and can test for cannabis, speed and ecstasy on the side of the road. According to one report, a certain amount of cannabis is equivalent to 50 mg of alcohol. Unlike alcohol, however, the drugs in question are illegal and should not be available for sale or use. Therefore, no one under the influence of drugs should be behind the wheel of a car.

I commend the Bill to the House and thank the Minister for attending.