Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers. I sympathise with all the families who were bereaved over the past year due to road deaths and all those who were injured, in particular those who have had life-changing injuries because of the actions of others and in some cases perhaps, unfortunately, their own actions as well. It is very difficult for all, and in particular their loved ones.

The Minister of State mentioned a figure of 29% for the non-wearing of seatbelts. That does not mean 29% of all drivers do not wear a seatbelt, but that 29% of those among the fatalities were not wearing seatbelts. That is a very high figure which would suggest perhaps that those who were intoxicated or on drugs were not sufficiently aware to put on a safety belt. That is of concern.

The Minister of State also mentioned fatigue and texting. Texting is a huge problem. One has only to look at the amount of texting and the use of mobile phones in this Chamber and in the Dáil Chamber to see how prevalent it is and to show that it is everywhere. I am not sure what the solution is, because if we are asking people not to do it, it will be difficult to get the figure down. I do not know if it is possible to find a technological way to block it.

In terms of the speed limit review, I remember a change to the speed limit came in when I was a councillor. I cannot remember if it was to change the signs from miles to kilometres. The default speed limit on the culs-de-sac became 80 km/h and it became a running joke. Signs were defaced and changed to 30 km/h. They were blocked off and taken down because they were nonsensical.

I fully agree with the review. I would go further and say 60 km/h is probably too high on a lot of roads in culs-de-sac, where they should be 50 km/h. However, I do have concerns about proposals to reduce the speed limit on national secondary roads to 80 km/h. We could enforce what is there rather than reducing the speed limit on national secondary roads. These are vital arteries and people do not have alternatives in rural Ireland, other than to use the car, or at least in most cases they do not have as many alternatives as in other areas. Roads are important and I urge caution on that one because those who are not obeying the 100 km/h speed limit will not obey the 80 km/h speed limit. Likewise, a driver who speeds at 100 km or 80 km will not obey a 60 km/h speed limit. Enforcement is more important.

The convoluted process of speed limit reviews is problematic because as soon as one speed limit review is concluded in a local authority, there are immediate requests to change the speed limit on different roads. There needs to be a snappier process to allow for speed limit reviews and to make necessary changes that are identified by the Garda, council engineers and councillors and public representatives as well.

Right-hand turn lanes on national roads are something I always thought was a good thing but Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, seems to have taken an aversion to them. It does not seem to support them. It seems to even want to take them out when improvement works commence. In Clarinbridge, for example, where there were proposals for major works in the town post the construction of the motorway, one of the proposals was to remove the right-hand turn lane at Stradbally. The works did not go ahead because the councillors did not agree with it. There seems to be a view that TII does not want them, yet there is such a demand for right-hand turn lanes where there is space. If cars are speeding on the inside of a car in traffic, people feel very vulnerable while waiting to cross the road. I hear from the county council that TII just does not want them any more. There are a lot of requests but it just does not want to do them.

I wish to briefly raise another issue. We know that road safety will be improved if we can get more people off the road and using buses. I have raised the issue previously in the House, as have others. There are new routes under Transport for Ireland. For example, the 432 bus from An Cheathrú Rua to Clifden, which goes through the areas of Ballyconneely, Roundstone, Cashel, Carna, stops only within the towns. The buses do not stop at the head of the Murvey road or on any other roads. They do not stop outside people's houses. A person cannot stand outside a house and signal for a bus to stop. That means he or she must get in the car to drive to Ballyconneely or Cashel to get the bus and then drive home again. Pensioners, students or someone who just does not want to drive and would rather get the bus, cannot do so. They must either get someone to drop them to the bus stop or else drive to the bus stop themselves. Will the Minister of State liaise with the National Transport Authority on this because the new services are welcome and they will be used more if these changes are put in place because it would be a great benefit. Workers, for example, who are let off in Ballyconneely have to walk to work along a busy road, whereas the bus could stop at the head of a road and let them out.