National Safety Council |
Enforcement of existing and proposed legislation would save 200 lives and 1000 serious accidents each year- NRA could help by fixing existing roads |
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In an interview on Morning Ireland on Wednesday October 31st 2001, Mr Eddie Shaw, chairman of the National Safety Council, said that enforcement of both existing legislation and legislation proposed in the Road Traffic Bill could save 200 lives per year, a reduction of approximately 50%. Additionally the number of serious accidents would be reduced by about 1000 per year. An "integrated technology system" is necessary to ensure successful enforcement, he said. He further added that it is "our behaviour that is the primary cause of road deaths and injuries. That is why we need a strategy from the government and enforcement from the Guards." "We know from other places, Sweden, Finland, Holland, parts of the UK, Victorian Australia; we know for a fact that the combination of high levels of enforcement with good education, with good engineering changes on the roads and safety changes in cars, that the combination of those has a dramatic and immediate impact in reducing the incidence of death and injury on the roads." The cost of funding such a road safety strategy would be £150 million with a "quantifiable benefit of between £700 and £800 million." The NRA are blaming farmers for 50 deaths per year arising from the resistance being offered to the proposed motorway project. It would be more appropriate if they contributed the "good engineering changes" demanded of this National Safety Council strategy and deal with both the design and construction deficiencies in the existing roads for which they have responsibility.
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