The announcement by the Garda S∅ochβna that 4,203 drivers were detected breaking the various speed limits throughout the State during the August bank holiday period provides indisputable evidence that the Government's Road Safety Strategy is not working. In spite of ministerial announcements and sporadic efforts by the Garda to enforce the traffic laws, the incidence of non-compliance by motorists continues to rise. The very fact that so many breaches of the law were detected, points to a calculation by drivers that they will not be caught because of inadequate enforcement measures and a willingness to risk such an eventuality because of the relatively light penalties involved.
The reality of Irish motoring life is that an active Garda presence on our roads is the exception, rather than the rule. We do not have a dedicated traffic corps like other European countries and, as a consequence, the enforcement of the law is patchy, at best. Only a handful of fixed speed cameras have been installed on the major routes out of Dublin and the computer system necessary to implement a penalty-points system for traffic offences is still not operational. Sporadic crack-downs on speeding, seat-belt wearing and drunk-driving during holiday periods - usually well flagged in advance - provide an indication of how lawless and dangerous our roads have become.
What was described as "a huge increase in enforcement measures" by the Garda brought a doubling of the detection level for drunk-driving and speeding. The number of persons charged with drunk-driving during the bank holiday period this year rose to 278, from 166 last year. Speeding offences increased from 1,902 to 4,203, with about half of those detected in the Dublin area. And dangerous driving offences rose from 169 to 241. Of the 192 fatal traffic accidents in the first six months of this year, some 62 involved one vehicle only. That would point to catastrophic mechanical failure or suggest that drivers were incapable, because of speed or drink, of maintaining control of their vehicles.
Last week's exercise by the Garda must be welcomed. But without a sustained and consistently high level of law enforcement, non-compliant motorists will continue to take risks and kill themselves and others.