Crash site inspections on hold

A system to inspect the sites of serious road crashes to determine if environmental or road factors contributed has stalled because almost a quarter of local authorities are refusing to co-operate, writes David Labanyi.

Under the scheme, an engineer and garda are supposed to inspect the site within 48 hours of the crash to determine if the road or junction is dangerous and what, if any, remedial works are required.

The Collision Reporting Procedure was designed to ensure potential dangers are dealt with as soon as possible. It covers all crashes resulting in death or serious injury.

The scheme was rolled out nationally in late 2007 but almost immediately ran into problems, with at least six local authorities refusing to co-operate, according to documents released by the Local Government Management Services Board (LGMSB) under the Freedom of Information Act.

Local authorities are refusing to participate due to concern they may face legal action because in many cases engineers are asked to inspect their own work.

The LGMSB was told local authority engineers would not fill out the form used to assess potential hazards at the crash site and said the system was "causing concern among area engineers. . . mainly due to a fear of culpability and litigation under health and safety legislation".

Introducing a procedure for reporting collisions is a key action under the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2007-2011, which set a deadline of the third quarter of 2008 for its introduction. The narrow timeframe for visiting the site is seen as essential to ensure important information is not lost.

The problem was referred to the National Roads Authority late last year and it has developed a revised form for reporting collisions, significantly reducing the level of interpretation required from engineers when describing contributory factors that may have led to the crash.

The new form also relies more heavily on pictures and diagrams to illustrate the crash site, with the aim of reducing the amount of interpretive input from the engineer.

As a result, the revised reporting procedure minimises the extent to which an engineer's interpretation can be called into question. A pilot programme using the new reporting procedure is underway in counties Kerry and Wexford and will be introduced in all local authorities if successful.

In most cases, any engineering works required are relatively minor and involve repairing or replacing signposts or improving sight lines.