Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

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, 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 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 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 one year of the passing of this Act. The absence of an alcohol interlock under this subsection after 31 December 2015 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 an alcohol interlock within 24 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 section after 31 December 2015 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 2016 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 I January 2016 will be required to have pedestrian air bags.
(6) The Minister shall convene a body expert in science and technology to report to the Oireachtas on contribution to road safety from the application of science and technology to the enhanced driver and vehicle performance.".

This relates to a debate we had about technology and its ability to assist the Minister and everybody in reducing accidents and activities in road transport that caused 290 people to lose their lives last year. We have made various proposals in the amendment. Since our discussion on Committee Stage, I have become more impressed by what the technology can do, and impressed by it as a low cost method of doing things. We got evidence of more of this technology being put into cars although the price of cars was falling at the same time. It appears that to implement this technology in vehicles would provide big bonuses on the safety side and does not involve the taxpayer in any cost, which would be good news to our friend and colleague, the Minister for Finance. It can be incorporated within a system whereby the price of vehicles incorporating these technologies has been falling. According to the CSO, there has been a slight decrease in car prices overall and the cars are incorporating more of these safety features.

We got in touch with Matthews bus company which installed the alcohol locks. The estimated cost of installing a lock on a coach costing €270,000 was about €1,200 and the installers were fairly sure that if it was more widely used, the cost could be brought down to about €800. That seems to be a win-win. Presumably if we had an astute insurance industry it would reward the companies which installed those alcohol locks, which involves an insignificant increase in the cost of the vehicle, with a reduction in their insurance costs. When we got into this further we found pedestrian air bags had been added to cars for which prices are declining, as had lane-keeping aids to stop people drifting out of lanes - the Volvo researchers indicate that about a third of crashes are caused by people veering between lanes. Other developments include pedestrian detection systems which will stop the vehicle, systems to enhance blind spot information, cross-traffic alerts, a city safety system where if the car in front stops the car coming behind will stop automatically, an auto detection system and an intelligence speed adaptation unit.

Since discussing the issue on Committee Stage I do not know if I have been converted to it, but we have calculated that the alcohol lock added 0.44% to the cost of the vehicles concerned. We think there is an avenue to be pursued here. We admire what the Road Safety Authority has been doing in terms of trying to influence driver behaviour and improving the testing. The testing of vehicles is the next stage. It could take a leaf out of the policies of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, of Ireland promoting itself as a smart and a high-tech economy. This technology exists so can we move towards having it implemented here? We pushed out the dates somewhat from the previous day's discussion about when we would seek to have this technology adopted.

It is low cost and has great possibilities. It may be the next stage where we can get the kind of improvements that we all seek in this area.

To develop the subject further, we have described the various technologies and subsection (6), in addition to the ones that I have read out, states: "The Minister shall convene a body expert in science and technology to report to the Oireachtas on contribution to road safety from the application of science and technology to the enhanced driver and vehicle performance". Generally, we are impressed by the possibilities. The intelligent vehicle may be the next step forward in dealing with problems such as lapses in concentration, people falling asleep and single vehicle accidents. With regards to knocking down pedestrians, there seems to be technology to deal with the problem. Perhaps one of the bodies that already advises the Government on technology would be able to assist in the matter.

Safety legislation can boost the process. For example, the alcolock provision seems to cost remarkably little. Again, based on the discussion that we had on the last occasion when mention was made of the one bus company that installs these safety features, I put the amendment before the House. It seems that the next stage in terms of a big breakthrough in road safety that we all seek could be happening now.