Measures to improve road safety will ‘struggle’ to make impact without increased Garda visibility

Measures to improve road safety will “struggle” to deliver without increased enforcement of traffic offences in a “visible manner” by gardaí, Minister of State for Transport Jack Chambers has told the Garda Commissioner.

In a letter to Drew Harris, dated September 22nd, Mr Chambers said he was “very concerned” at reports that Garda road policing units may be disbanded or that their resources may be temporarily reassigned elsewhere. “Such a move would be retrograde in my view as we seek to increase the visibility of enforcement in the months ahead,” he said.

In the correspondence, seen by The Irish Times, Mr Chambers said detections for mobile phone use by motorists so far this year were down by 40 per cent when compared to the same period in 2019, while the numbers detected driving without a seat belt were down 56 per cent.

He also said intercept detections for speeding, where a garda stops a vehicle, were down 30 per cent over that same period and arrests for drink driving were down 14 per cent.

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Mr Chambers said he had received the data from An Garda Síochána and that non-intercept speed detections were up 45 per cent since 2019, “therefore showing the value of camera-based enforcement, but the intercept reduction is marked and significant”.

“I would note also and welcome that arrests for drug driving are up 28 per cent compared to 2019, but it has to be said this is decreasing compared to 2022, 2021 and 2020.”

Given vehicle volumes on Irish roads were stable or increasing, and “the evidence available does not show marked improvements in driver behaviour, it can only be concluded that lower enforcement levels are driving the decreases in detections”, the Fianna Fáil TD added.

“Without increased enforcement, and in a visible manner, I believe that the other measures we are all working towards to improve road safety will struggle to be successful or deliver all the hoped for benefits and lives saved.”

The Minister of State said that from experience in Ireland and abroad, effective and visible enforcement was necessary to ensure driver behaviour “improves as policy changes are implemented”.

“Research by the Road Safety Authority confirms that drivers rank more gardaí on the roads as the single most influential factor that would encourage them to stop speeding or using mobile phones,” he said.

In a statement An Garda Síochána said recent commentary on road policing units being disbanded or having their resources temporarily reassigned was in the context of a human resources dispute on rosters.

“Despite that ill-informed public commentary there was no suggestion that An Garda Síochána was disbanding established units or transferring established personnel during that roster debate,” it said. “There is no organisation policy to reduce numbers in roads policing units. As Garda recruitment continues and accelerates, additional Garda members will become available to be deployed to priority areas.”

Mr Chambers, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, Road Safety Authority chair Liz O’Donnell and Mr Harris are understood to have met on September 26th regarding the rise in road fatalities for far this year. To date 157 people have been killed on Irish roads.

Gardaí said that from 7am last Thursday until 7am on Tuesday, a total of 210 drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of an intoxicant and nearly 1,500 were detected driving in excess of the speed limit.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said the enforcement of road safety legislation was a “critical part of ensuring the safety of all road users”.

“A visible Garda presence is an influential factor in discouraging dangerous driving behaviours,” he said.

The department also noted that Ms McEntee had recently announced that the number of GoSafe camera van hours in the final months of this year would be increased by 20 per cent, while roads policing numbers would be considered in the context of ongoing Garda recruitment.