All road users are urged to be attentive and so enhance their own safety and that of other road users
Tragically 111 people have died on our roads so far this year.
Over the June Bank Holiday period in 2007 (1st to 4th June), four people died in road traffic collisions.
All road users are urged to be attentive and so enhance their own safety and that of other road users.
Over the coming weekend therefore significant extra Garda resources will be deployed with the aim of increasing compliance amongst road users and improving road safety.
The European Commission adopted its 3rd Road Safety Action Programme in 2003 (2003-2010) to halve the number of road accident victims in the European Union by 2010.
There is clear recognition by the European Commission of the contribution that enforcement can make to saving lives.
Traffic law enforcement measures, due to their strong impact on road safety, in combination with awareness raising activities, are the most important measures to reducing road deaths.
The increased Garda enforcement of the road traffic legislation in respect of drink driving and Fixed Charge Offences has seen an increase in detections in these areas over the past 2 years.
The charts below outline incidents detected in these areas per quarter since January 2006.
In the area of road traffic enforcement it is important to communicate enforcement/compliance to stakeholders and the main stakeholder in this instance are the general road users.
It is in this regard that the following statistics are published.
FCPS Notices
2006 2007 2008
Jan-Mar 36078 103838 111529
Apr-Jun 96466 122628
Jul-Sep 106127 120122
Oct-Dec 103471 109653
Alcohol is the second greatest contributory factor to road deaths and injuries and so Garda enforcement activity will also be prioritised on Drink Driving.
There will be additional Garda resources deployed to combat drink driving and extensive use will be made of Mandatory Alcohol Testing checkpoints.
Unfortunately statistics over the past two years show that there is still a non compliance culture in respect of the drink driving legislation as detections continue to show an increase.
Drink Driving
2006 2007 2008
Jan-Mar 3742 4588 4713
Apr-Jun 4443 4710
Jul-Sep 5048 4803
Oct-Dec 5447 4720
The detections in respect of speed have decreased over the 4th quarter of 2007 and the reasons for this may be due to the effects of enforcement and greater awareness Speed, as the single greatest contributory factor to road deaths and serious injury which cannot be over emphasised, will be a priority over this bank holiday period.
Drivers are urged to drive within the speed limit and at a speed appropriate to the road environment and driving conditions.
Speeding
2006 2007 2008
Jan-Mar 32367 46708 40161
Apr-Jun 50269 56133
Jul-Sep 56860 55703
Oct-Dec 58229 40389
Effective Garda enforcement and a more compliant driver behaviour has seen a reduction in the number of fatal collisions in 2007 and this downward trend has continued into 2008, as can be seen from the following charts.
The chart outlines the number of fatalities per quarter for the years 2006, 2007 and the first quarter of 2008.
Fatalities
2006 2007 2008
Jan-Mar 98 81 78
Apr-Jun 99 83
Jul-Sep 78 87
Oct-Dec 90 87
The message to drivers is:-
• Never drink and drive.
• Have a nominated non-drinking driver or use public transport, taxis/hackneys if going out for a drink. Tiredness contributes to road fatalities and injuries.
Those going on journeys over this Bank holiday weekend should give themselves plenty of time to complete their journey safely.
Drivers should stop in a safe place if they feel tired and take a short nap or break away from the road and have a cup of coffee.
All figures provided are correct as of the 28th May 2008 however they are provisional, operational and subject to change. * (Source: Traffic Law Enforcement across the EU- European Transport Safety Council).
Garda Press Office.
12.45 hrs 29/05/08
Ref: 675/08
