70 dead on our roads and children to influence the decision-making process
There have been 70 fatalities on Irish roads this year, 17 more than the equivalent period last year. That is a national crisis!
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) makes the point that young road users are the highest risk age group, with those aged between 16 and 25 accounting for 30 per cent of fatalities this year.
In 2023, this age group was also the highest risk category, accounting for 26 per cent of fatalities, tragically a higher percentage of a much higher number this year so far.
Against this background, the latest initiative that the RSA has come up with is its inaugural Youth Forum, which was held in Dublin today. The forum, consisting of 20 young people between the ages of 12-25, aims to start a conversation and provide a safe space for young people to discuss their common road safety concerns.
The idea behind this is to ensures the voice of children and young people will be heard in the decision-making process. However, we are going through a major crisis of road deaths and serious injuries right now and the chairperson and the RSA wants to have children influence the decision-making process, that the adults that can’t seem to get to grips with.
A couple of weeks ago on RTE’s Claire Byrne programme and again on the News at One today, Liz O’Donnell spoke more than I’ve heard in the near 10 years since she replaced the retiring excellent former chairman of the RSA, Gay Byrne (then 80 years of age). Gay was there for eight years and I know how seriously he took the role and how he used his high profile to create road safety awareness to great effect. His legacy lasted for several years after he left the role.
Should the current RSA board and their chairperson not be considering their positions? You can have all the initiatives in the world but for road safety it is strict enforcement that works.
In that regard, the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána and the Minister for Justice also have to really wake-up to this basic fact. They need to urgently drive more effective resources into strict road policing. It should not be more of the ‘fish in a barrel’ fines that has helped lose the respect of the drivers of Ireland.
Introduce a yellow card warning system for first offences, even minor ones. If warnings are ignored, have tougher penalties for repeat offences.
Road death statistics are factual, but for instance, while 43 pedestrians died on our roads last year, how many of those happened in towns where excessive speed was the primary cause of the fatality? This is the area targeted by the very expensive advertising campaign about the 30 km/h speed limit. It cost €819,686 (production of the AD cost €489,910.89 (ex vat), with media planning and buying adding another €315,057.72 to the bill, in addition to nearly €15,000 on public relations.
Back to today’s inaugural forum, where the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Mr. Jack Chambers, attended. It is set to meet seven more times over a two-year period. We are told that during the course of the day, the participants agreed on safety topics which the group will investigate and champion. They also provided feedback on youth-orientated media and digital campaigns and education initiatives.
We were further told that the National Participation Office (NPO) as part of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth provided its expertise to support the inaugural RSA Youth Forum on Road Safety.
And as I referred to above, NPO welcomes this initiative that ensures the voice of children and young people will be heard in the decision-making process.
