Points pay off for road safety

On the face of it, the National Roads Authority's road accident facts for last year make grim reading: 12 months saw 376 people lose their lives, and 9,206 people injured on the State's roads.

In a sparsely populated state of about four million citizens, it is impossible to measure the thousands who have had their lives adversely affected by speeding drivers, improper overtaking, drink driving, or simple misfortune.

But we must look beyond the headline numbers to get at the information that can provide most comfort for those tasked with reducing what is aptly called the "carnage on our roads". Yet more change is required if we are to make the roads as safe as they can possibly be, but it is certain to say that we have come a long way in 30 years.

In the 1970s the number of fatal accidents reached catastrophic levels, peaking above the 600 mark but rarely dipping below 500. Last year's figure of 376 shows that seismic inroads have been made and in 2003 the downward trend, spurred by the introduction of the penalty points system, is continuing.

With little over one month left in the year, 311 people have died on the roads. If December records the same level of fatality as December 2002, the end-of-year figure will be below 340.

But the downward trend, particularly over the last 10 years, is even more stark when the levels of vehicle ownership are taken into account. Since 1993 the number of fatal accidents has decreased by 12 per cent. But over the same period the number of licenced vehicles has surged by 61 per cent from 1,151,000 in 1993 to 1,850,000 last year.

In other words, the huge increase in car ownership has not resulted in a similar increase in the number of road deaths. In real terms the number of road deaths has decreased at a greater rate than flat year-on-year comparisons reveal.

The NRA report once again confirms the obvious fact that the introduction of penalty points has directly resulted in the saving of lives on our roads. In the year that saw their introduction for the offence of speeding, the first two months of their operation, November and December 2002, provided the most significant reductions in fatalities to see a year-on-year reduction of 35.

Many lives have been saved since October 31st, 2002, the Department of Transport says: more than 66,000 motorists have received penalty points so far. It should be reassuring that only three people have notched up 10 points, two shy of the 12 needed for disqualification.

The success of penalty points is not surprising. It doesn't take a highly-paid consultant to work out that motorists who faced only a small fine were likely to take a chance in doing 50 in a 30 mile zone, while the thoughts of higher insurance premiums and even a driving ban would change driver behaviour.

Details contained in the NRA report demonstrate exactly why penalty points have worked. Single vehicle accidents, involving no other road user, were the most common type of fatal accident in 2002. This type of accident is usually associated with excess speed and/or drink driving.

Driver error was cited as the main contributing factor in 86 per cent of all fatal accidents last year. This statistic should hammer home the importance of punishing errant drivers and the equal importance of more effective driver training.

The good news is that the Minister for Transport has vowed to expand the penalty points system in the New Year, despite threats from the Garda not to "play ball" until a proper computerised system is in place.

Motorists face new offences that will incur penalty points including careless driving, dangerous overtaking and the use of a handheld mobile phone while driving. Careless driving will incur two penalty points, and five points if convicted in court, as will the offence of dangerous overtaking.

Mobile phone offences will carry a single penalty point and a fine, or three penalty points if convicted in court.

Again, the NRA report demonstrates that this expansion makes perfect sense. While excessive speed was noted as the main contributory action in 10.9 per cent of two-vehicle collisions, 17.4 per cent were deemed to be caused by a driver travelling on the wrong side of the road and 6.1 per cent caused by improper overtaking. Out of 127 fatal two-car accidents last year, 50 were caused by travelling on the wrong side of the road, almost double the amount caused by speeding.

The annual NRA Road Accident facts will no doubt make interesting reading for those responsible for mapping future road safety strategies. They can take some solace in how far we have come.

The Government's Road to Safety 1998 - 2002 strategy aimed to reduce road accident deaths by 20 per cent by last year. It also aims to achieve a similar reduction in the number of serious injuries from road accidents. These targets have been achieved.

Details of a new strategy, for the period 2003 to 2005, will soon be unveiled by the Department of Transport. The strategy is being developed by the High Level Group for Road Safety, comprising the Departments of Transport and Environment, the NRA, An Garda Siochana, the National Safety Council, the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, and local authorities. This group must keep the momentum going and not rest on its laurels.