Madam, - Tim O'Brien (April 7th) writes an article on road safety in Ireland with the headline "Death toll rises again as policy on road safety stalls". He also states that the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, will have "a difficult task to lecture the world on road safety" as the number of traffic accidents in Ireland are "rising alarmingly". This article is similar to many others you will see in the media in Ireland that constantly imply that the number of road deaths is constantly increasing.
The reality is that the roads are safer than ever, with the number of road deaths and injuries dramatically reduced. The death toll has not risen "again", in Ireland anyway.
If the statistics on road collisions, available on the Garda website, are reviewed, the improvement in road safety can be seen. Last year, the number of road deaths was at its lowest level since 1963. Road deaths are down 47 per cent since a peak of 640 in 1972 and 29 per cent since 1990. The numbers injured peaked in 1996 and have been reduced by 31 per cent since then.
While I do not have statistics on traffic volume, I assume it has increased enormously since the 1970s, yet the number of people killed on the roads has fallen from an average of 588 per year (1970s) to 339 (2003). Certainly, the number of road deaths in the early part of this year is higher, but this trend may or may not continue.
Obviously, road safety is something that we need to be vigilant about and I am not suggesting that the current number of people being killed on our roads is acceptable. Even one death per year is unacceptable.
On the other hand, I believe the media have responsibility to reflect the reality of the situation rather than scaremongering. - Yours, etc.,
CONALL DORAN, Department of Engineering Technology, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford.