The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána have issued a public appeal, today Thursday, the 21st April 2011, for all road users to stay safe on the roads this Easter. The warning has been echoed by Mr. Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport who has called on all road users to act responsibly as they use the roads.
The Minister for Transport, Sport and Tourism Mr. Leo Varadkar TD, said: “Road safety is a major priority for this Government. The first piece of legislation before the new Dail was the Road Traffic Bill 2011. As Minister for Transport, I am determined that we will reduce road deaths this year, so as Easter approaches, I am asking everyone, including cyclists, pedestrians and motorists to put safety first. Plan your journey carefully, don’t take chances and don’t let a rash decision on our roads lead to trauma and devastation for other road users.”
Mr. Noel Brett, Chief Executive, Road Safety Authority, said:“As large numbers of people take to the roads this weekend for the Easter holidays, the RSA is advising people to reduce their speed and consider the safety of all road users. We all know that driving too fast has serious consequences and increases your risk of being involved in a serious or fatal collision, yet every year, approximately one third of road deaths are caused by excessive speed. We are asking all road-users to slow down and don’t make this Easter one to remember for all the wrong reasons.”<_o3a_p>
Speaking at Garda Headquarters, John Twomey, Assistant Commissioner for Traffic, said: “Let’s keep our roads safe this Easter and May Bank Holiday. I am asking every person in <_st13a_place><_st13a_country-region>Ireland who uses the roadsto make a commitment that they will do so safely and with care and consideration for the other people they meet along the way. Please take heed of the warnings from An Garda Siochana and our partners in the Road Safety Authority and Community Organisations. This carnage on our roads has to stop.” <_o3a_p>
Research conducted by the Road Safety Authority has shown that there has been a marked increase in support for mobile safety cameras since their introduction. The positive impact of the speed cameras advertising campaign is clearly evident:<_o3a_p>
· Strong support for safety cameras has risen by 17%, up from 47% in October 2010 to 64% of all motorists with a full licence in January of this year;<_o3a_p>
· Agreement that safety cameras save lives has risen by 8%, from 77% in October to 85% in January;<_o3a_p>
· Agreement that safety cameras make roads safer has risen by 7% since October, from 77% in October to 84% in January.<_o3a_p>
Awareness for the safety cameras advertising campaign is consistent across all demographic groups and the campaign is perceived to have a key central message: slow down.<_o3a_p>
One in three motorists nominated Garda.ie as the place where locations of safety cameras can be found, compared to only 8% of motorists who understood this to be the case last October.<_o3a_p>
Concluding Mr. Brett added, “The research demonstrates a polarisation of the public’s views has occurred in relation to the acceptability of excessive speed on our roads. A similar pattern was witnessed with changing attitudes to drinking and driving. A majority of people in this country now believe that breaking the speed limit by any amount is unacceptable social behaviour. This is to be welcomed and shows just how we have fully embraced a culture of road safety in <_st13a_country-region><_st13a_place>Ireland.” <_o3a_p>
However despite this, close to half of all Irish motorists believe they can safely exceed the speed limit on national roads. Comfort with speeding is especially high in the counties surrounding <_st13a_city><_st13a_place>Dublin. Those who do work-related driving are also much more likely to believe they can safely exceed the speed limit.<_o3a_p>
There have been 67,217 fixed charge notices issued to date in 2011, as follows:<_o3a_p>
• January: 19,518<_o3a_p>
• February: 29,671<_o3a_p>
• March (partial): 18,028<_o3a_p>
This includes detections as a result of all Garda activity by a range of equipment including: handheld and tripod mounted laser guns; vehicle mounted Puma speed detection equipment (both marked and unmarked vehicles); van mounted automatic speed detection radars (Garda operated); van mounted GoSafe vans (civilian operated).<_o3a_p>
Information on the number of detections for speeding is available up to the end of March. These provisional figures are based on operational data, and are subject to change.<_o3a_p>
An Garda Síochána will be active over the forthcoming holiday period, with the objective of saving lives. In particular, Gardaí will focus on drivers driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, speeding and also those using handheld mobile phones while driving.<_o3a_p>
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<_o3a_p>Garda Press Office.
For further information, please contact:<_o3a_p>
RSA Communications Office, Ballina: 096 25008<_o3a_p>
Garda Press Office: 01 666 2032 / pressoffice@garda.ie<_o3a_p>
Note to Editors:<_o3a_p>
The RSA conducted research in October 2010, before the roll-out of the new Garda mobile safety cameras across Irish roads, based on a nationally representative quota sample of 1,000 adults (aged 16 years and over). The research was repeated in January 2011 to gauge the impact of the advertising campaign which ran during December of last year.
