Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Question 45: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to carry out a review of road signage and its effectiveness in informing drivers of dangers in areas throughout the State which experience higher than average road traffic accidents. [33429/11]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The new 2010 Traffic Signs Manual (TSM) published in January this year constitutes a direction given to road authorities under section 95(16) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 in relation to the provision of traffic signs, other than regulatory signs. It provides details of the traffic signs which may be used on roads in Ireland, including their layout and symbols, the circumstances in which each sign may be used and the rules for positioning them.

Sections 6.1, 6.5 and 6.6 of the 2010 TSM further standardise treatment of warning road signage for locations with accident problems and also for difficult bends, corners and sharp changes of direction where motorists might experience difficulty in negotiating. Taking cognisance of the clear guidelines within the TSM, it is a matter for each road authority to determine the location of traffic signs to ensure that clear and effective signing is in place for the efficient operation of the road network, the enforcement of traffic regulations and for road safety purposes.

In addition to the recently published TSM, the European Communities (Road Infrastructure Safety Management) Regulation 2011 transposes the four pillars of the EU Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive, namely: road safety impact assessments; detailed systematic and technical safety audits; ranking of high accident concentrations on particular sections of the road network and periodic safety inspections of the network. This, together with the implementation of the 2010 TSM guidelines, should increase the safety of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians on our road network. Bearing in mind the initiatives outlined, my Department has no proposals to carry out a further review of road signage on our road network at this time.

Question No. 46 answered with Question No. 29.

Question No. 47 answered with Question No. 30.