A national strategy is being drawn up to ensure greater cohesion among all road safety agencies in the State in an attempt to combat the recent serious increase in road accidents.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, emphasised yesterday that road safety was an urgent public health issue and said that the Government was determined to address it. He was speaking after a meeting with two Ministers, members of the Garda Siochana and road safety agencies.
Mr Ahern said there had been an unacceptable escalation in road fatalities this month, and he was determined to address the situation, if necessary with improved instruments and resources. "The toll in terms of human life and impact on families has been tragic and enormous. There is widespread public, political and media concern at the situation."
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said that good multi-agency co-operation was the key to improving action on road safety. He was immediately mandating the High Level Group on Road Safety to prepare the new national strategy under the direction of Mr Robert Molloy, the Minister of State.
An extra £50,000 is being made available by the National Safety Council for increased promotional activity between now and the end of the year. The National Roads Authority, in co-operation with local authorities, is to accelerate its programme of remedial measures at prime accident locations.
The National Roads Authority yesterday issued its annual report for 1996, which showed that 453 people died on the roads in 415 fatal accidents. This was a 4 per cent increase on the 437 killed in 1995 and a 2 per cent increase on the 405 fatal accidents recorded in that year.
"This is against a background of a steady increase in the total amount of travel on Irish roads, from 18 thousand million vehicle kilometres in 1998, when the number killed was 628, to around 34 thousand million in 1996. Thus the fatality rate per million vehicle kilometres of travel has improved significantly", the report states.
On the basis of road deaths per 100,000 of the population, the report adds, Ireland's rate at 12 in 1995, the latest year for which data is available, was the fifth-lowest in the EU.
Mr Conor Faughnan, public affairs manager of the AA, said that road safety problems would not be solved by anything less than a wholesale changing of society's attitude to road use, motoring laws and driving behaviour.
He said people did not take road safety seriously enough. This was reflected in tolerance of speeding and drink-driving. "Our driving population seems to include a higher proportion of irresponsible, selfish and dangerous motorists than elsewhere, and we pay the awful price for them", he said.