Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 16, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:
“14. (1) All mechanically propelled vehicles where the operator is—

(a) the holder of a driving licence licensing the holder to drive a vehicle in the category C, C1, D, D1, EB, EC, EC1, ED, ED1 and W while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle,
(b) the holder of a licence to drive any type of public service vehicle granted under section 34 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 or section 82 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 or a person purporting to be such a holder while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle, when the vehicle is being used in the course of business, or
(c) the holder of a licence to drive a heavy goods or light goods vehicle as defined under EC Directive 2007/46/EC or a person purporting to be such a holder while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle, when the vehicle is being used in the course of business, shall be required to install an alcohol interlock within 6 months of the passing of this Act. The absence of an alcohol interlock under this subsection after 31 December 2014 will be considered an offence.

(2) (a) All mechanically propelled vehicles where the operator is the holder of a driving licence licensing the holder to drive a vehicle in the category B while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle shall be required to install/retrofit an alcohol interlock with 12 months of the passing of this Act.

(b) An exemption exists to paragraph (a) where the mechanically propelled vehicle was built prior to 1 January 2000.
(c) The absence of an alcohol interlock under this subsection after 31 December 2014 will be considered an offence unless the vehicle is subject to the exemption in paragraph (b).

(3) All mechanically propelled vehicles sold in the Republic of Ireland after 1 July 2015 will be required to have an alcohol interlock installed prior to sale.
(4) All mechanically propelled vehicles sold in the Republic of Ireland after 1 July 2015 will be required to have an active Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) unit installed prior to sale.
(5) All mechanically propelled vehicles sold in the Republic of Ireland after 1 January 2016 will be required to have pedestrian airbags.”.

We are looking to maintain momentum. Ireland, from being a relatively unsafe place on the roads, got right up to Scandinavian and UK standards, which is where we want to get back to or even supersede. The first innovation, which we discussed briefly the last day, was the alcohol interlock, which is already fitted on its buses by the Matthews bus company in Dundalk. Improving vehicles is going to be part of this so we propose, in the initial stages of amendment No. 7, for heavy goods vehicles and buses to create the culture of safety that we all wish to ensure. We then propose extending the alcohol interlock to new cars after a due interval, but to exempt existing cars. We also referred to lighting improvements so vehicles would have their lights on all the time, or that at least an increased proportion of the vehicle fleet would do so. This does improve safety, and the Minister previously pointed to research which showed this.

Having the alcohol interlock is a development of the restrictions we put on people who drink and drive. It is a logical development of safer vehicles. The Matthews company has been an innovator in regard to public transport. I appreciate the extremely good record of public transport and we would extend this to trucks also. I gather, having checked it this morning in a Canadian study, that the cost is some €1,200 per vehicle, which is a very small proportion of the cost of a new vehicle. As usual with such matters, when it becomes more general, we would expect the price to come down, and I hope those promises are realised. However, it would not be a significant item in the cost of a vehicle. The safer, so-called intelligent vehicle is the way to proceed.

The next subsection proposes that vehicles "will be required to have an active Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) unit installed". We were able to fulfil the Minister's criterion in that we found a study from the University of Leeds, a renowned transport study institute. The study states:

ISA systems have a very large potential to eliminate accidents and reduce the severity of those that do occur. Indeed it can be considered to be the most powerful collision avoidance system currently available. ... It is clear from the benefits and cost analysis that the economics of the system are considerable, that the benefits considerably outweigh the costs, and that the benefits of any version of ISA will be maximised with 100% fitment.

The authors of the study are pretty impressed, as I know the Minister and his international colleagues will be. While Ireland no longer has a vehicle assembly industry, the signs for both of these technologies are extremely positive.

The amendment is an attempt to make the intelligent vehicle more prominent on our roads. Subsection (5) of the amendment concerns pedestrian airbags, which Volvo already has as standard. I gather that when in collision with a vehicle, the airbag that we know is inside the vehicle will appear on the outside of the vehicle and cushion the collision and the fall of the person with whom the vehicle has come in collision. As the Minister knows, in 2009 single vehicle collisions were 38% of collisions. Vehicles that can recognise obstacles and recognise drowsiness in a driver will be an important part of the safety agenda ahead.

The Minister's colleagues are preparing work on this area, particularly those in Scandinavia and some in the UK. The purpose of these amendments is to suggest that those kinds of developments would be most welcome as part of our road safety agenda.

We must do something about the driver, which is what the interlock is for and it is already up and running. We must also do something about the vehicle, which is what the pedestrian airbag is for. The interface between the vehicle and the driver is what the intelligence speed adaptation system is for, and it is strongly favoured by the University of Leeds.

There are developments. When we have done as much as we can about driver training, then we must improve the vehicles. It is a rolling agenda, as we said earlier. That is the spirit in which we proposed the measures for the Minister's consideration. If he cannot do so today, I ask him to consider them for the next legislation he prepares. We should never be satisfied to stop at 190 fatalities or even 162. Why not go for a much more ambitious target and avail of these technologies? Endorsement by the House would show that Ireland is a country that is serious about technologies to prevent the side-effects of road transport killing so many people throughout the European Union.