The Minister for Transport has succeeded in appeasing the thousands of provisional driving license holders by doing a U-turn on controversial new driving laws. However, whether he will succeed in reducing the number of road deaths in this country remains to be seen.

Anyone following the new road safety strategy story as it broke last week would be forgiven for thinking that when it comes to his road safety brief, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey is all at sea. Strong leadership is required if we are to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on Irish roads but strong leadership is not what we have received on this issue.

In the space of a few days, the Minister had backtracked on his plans. First off, he insisted that the new laws were required to bring Ireland into line with countries that are considered to have the safest roads in the world, thereby reducing collisions, deaths in injuries on Irish roads by 30 per cent. Then, under immense pressure, he changed his mind.

Minister Dempsey said that, having discussed the issue with the Road Safety Authority and the Garda authorities, there would be no change to the position. First, third and subsequent provisional licence holders should be accompanied at all times, while people on a second provisional will be given a grace period of eight months to get their act together.

So, are we to understand that the Minister did not discuss the issue before he made a grand announcement, bolstered by An Taoiseach and the Road Safety Authority Chairman Gay Byrne on Thursday?

When then health minister Mich?al Martin introduced the smoking ban in 2004, he did so after an extended consultation process with interested parties. For a minister who was keen on committees and reports, he didn't flounder in his resolve and the ban, though extremely controversial, was introduced. It was a great moment for the Minister.

In contrast, Minister Noel Dempsey's plans and revisions don't seem to have been thought out at all. The lightning introduction and knee-jerk about turn demonstrates that.

What the Minister has actually succeeded in doing is showing that he is as at sea when it comes to improving road safety. Driving laws in this country are a joke. Nobody wanted a heavy-handed approach but the least we could expect is a steady hand.

Comments (1) »

Ireland doesn't get it
written by Soren, November 04, 2007

Overly fastidious driving license road tests do not improve road safety. People with impeccable driving records for over 30 years of driving in other countries have failed the driving test in Ireland for trivial reasons having nothing to do with safety, such as downshifting a few yards earlier than the inspector would have preferred. Indeed, some people probably fail the driving test for having an American or other foreign accent.
Many young drivers who pass the driving test get into accidents because of IMMATURE BEHAVIOUR. Unfortunately, the driving test cannot estimate a driver's level of maturity and emotional stability.
The Department of Transport needs to get a clue about the causes of accidents before trying to remedy the problem with half-baked theories about the driving test.

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment