IRHA signs up for road safety campaign
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has signed up to a new road safety campaign, which focuses on delivering safer roads for Dublin.
Road fatalities have reduced significantly in the Dublin Region in recent years however Pedestrians still remain the single biggest group to die on Dublin roads. Since 2008, nearly 2 out of every 5 fatal road traffic collisions involved a pedestrian losing their life. To date in 2014, 7 of the 18 road fatalities were pedestrians.
In order to address this significant issue, and as part of a new road safety campaign entitled “SAFER ROADS FOR DUBLIN”, An Garda Síochána and partner stakeholders will specifically target pedestrians through social media, a poster campaign on public transport, the distribution of hi viz merchandise, and specific safety awareness initiatives, with a view to increasing their own road safety awareness and thus reducing the number of fatal and serious injury collisions involving pedestrians.
The campaign will be implemented on a 24/7 basis. The plan is receiving Multi-Agency support from the RSA, Transport Authorities (NTA and the NRA), Local Authorities (Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council, and Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown County Council) and Transport Stakeholders (Dublin Bus, LUAS, and the Irish Road Haulage Association). Each organisation is contributing in an effort to make our roads safer for all road users.
The Railway Procurement Agency in conjunction with Dublin City Council and An Garda Síochána will shortly introduce automated red light running detection on Benburb Street. Many thousands of commuters are inconvenienced every time the Luas trams are involved in an incident. There is also a very serious risk to life when these incidents occur. This can all be avoided if motorists/ pedestrians obey the traffic light signals. In the interim Gardai will operate in plain clothes and in uniform, monitoring compliance with traffic lights, in particular at Belgard, Amiens Street and Queen Street.
Between January and September 2014, 35,932 motorists have been detected speeding in the Dublin region. An Garda Síochána have identified the top ten locations for speeding in the Dublin areas, (see appendix A), i.e. the Swords Road, Whitehall where drivers have been identified travelling on average 28 km/h in excess of the posted limit. These locations in particular will receive targeted enforcement.
Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid said today:“19 people lost their lives in road traffic collisions in the Dublin area in 2013. To date in 2014, 18 people have already lost their lives. In a capital city with a population of over 1.5 million we have different challenges compared to other parts of the country. Our pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are most at risk, which increases when coming into contact with speeding vehicles**. Our “SAFER ROADS FOR DUBLIN” aims to protect every road user, but in particular the most vulnerable. All the local authorities, Public Transport providers, National Roads Authority and the Road Safety Authority are playing their part in this campaign.”
Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid stressed “Most importantly though, the public have a big part to play, and together we can save lives, reduce the number of casualties and make SAFER ROADS FOR DUBLIN. We appeal to every road user to help us make that happen”
Chief Superintendent Reid continued “So far this year in Dublin there has been in excess of 35,000 speeding detections, over 1,000 drivers arrested for intoxicated driving, 1,800 plus detections for not wearing a safety belt and nearly 7,000 drivers detected holding a mobile phone whilst driving – this is not safe driving for you or anyone else around you, and this risk taking will be targeted as part of the enforcement activities for this campaign
