Gardaí need to put “the fear of God” into drivers to reduce the number of road deaths, a leading safety campaigner has said.
In 2023, 184 people died on the roads in Ireland; the death toll was 19% higher than in 2022 and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said it had been a “very difficult” year.
Despite this, PARC (Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Care) founder Susan Gray is worried that things could yet get even worse.
“There’s death after death, nearly one every day now in January,” she told Newstalk reporter Jamie O’Hara for The Pat Kenny Show.
“The devastation’s continuing into this year.
“I know it’s early days yet but we believe that if the Government and Garda Commissioner don’t act ASAP, we will see a repeat of last year’s figures and maybe even more.
“The issues that have to be addressed are not being addressed.”
Ms Gray said people “have to see the Guards out there” or they will be tempted to break the rules of the road.
She noted that back in 2006, Gardaí announced they would put a huge emphasis on policing the roads and there was a noticeable decrease in fatalities.
“It was advertised everywhere,” she said.
“‘We will be out, we will catch you, we can test you now at any time.’
“[There was a] huge change in driving behaviour.
“The Guards were out there morning, noon and night, the fear of God was in the people that had been caught.
“It focused their minds; the minds need to be focused - totally.”
The death toll on Irish roads has increased 19% in the past year. Why is this, and what can we do to bring that number down? Christina Donnelly, who lost her son Brendan in a crash caused by a drunk driver, calls the amount of death on Irish roads 'an absolute tragedy'. pic.twitter.com/jmFx4kBcJ7
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) January 15, 2024
Reforms
Speaking to Jamie late last year, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she was fully aware that 2023 had been a “difficult year” on Irish roads and was working with Gardaí to improve road safety.
“We have seen the trend of deaths increase in the wrong direction, we’ve seen a number of significant fatalities in a very short space of time,” she said.
“That’s why my own Department of Justice, working with the Gardaí, working with [the Department of] Transport, working with the Road Safety Authority and many others have met on a regular basis to look at what more we can do.
“So, yes it will mean more road policing teams but it’s also important to acknowledge that roads policing is not carried out by those specific teams.
“About 25% of roads policing is carried out by your frontline member, your Garda member that’s not specific to that.”
Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers has promised a new Road Safety Bill will be introduced into the Oireachtas early this year.
The legislation is expected to include penalty points reform and mandatory drug testing at the scene of a crash.
Main image: A member of An Garda Siochana places flowers given by the public near the scene of a crash. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie
