399 people killed on State's roads in 2005

An 82-year-old man was killed in a crash in Co Kildare on Friday, bringing to 399 the number of people who died on the State'…

An 82-year-old man was killed in a crash in Co Kildare on Friday, bringing to 399 the number of people who died on the State's roads in 2005. This makes last year the worst for road safety since 2001, when 411 people were killed.

Kevin Callinan, who lived in Feighcullen, Co Kildare, died after the car in which he was a passenger was in collision with another car at Drennanstown, Rathangan, at about 3.30am on Friday. He was treated in Naas hospital, but died that evening.

Analysing the road-death figures for 2005, Conor Faughnan, public affairs manager for AA Ireland, said there was "no sense of urgency" to the Government's handling of the issue.

"If 400 people died in a single accident there would be a national outcry, but because it happens on the drip, weekend by weekend, it doesn't have the same impact. We know what we have to do, it is almost like paint-by-numbers. We need extra resources, we need legal reform and we need random breath testing."

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However, he praised the establishment of the Garda Traffic Corps and the Road Safety Authority - it takes over from the National Safety Council this month - and said there had been a considerable improvement in the standard of roads.

Fine Gael spokeswoman on transport Olivia Mitchell accused the Government of being indifferent to road safety.

"The list of promisedmeasures ranging from legislative changes to enforcement is a litany of abject failures and a testimony to this Government's indifference, incompetence or both to the serious issue of road safety.

"Each Government press conference has brought a new promise of action, but ministerial attention has never endured long enough to actually deliver on these promises."

A spokesman for Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said legislation would be brought forward "as soon as possible" to allow for the installation of speed cameras at known black spots. However a reduction in fatalities would require "culture change" as well as legislation and enforcement.

"You can't ignore the statistics, and they reveal very clearly that speeding, drink driving and non-seatbelt wearing contribute to most road accidents.

"Personal responsibility on this issue cannot be ignored. If everyone kept under the speed limit, did not drink and drive, and wore their seatbelts there would be far fewer deaths on the roads."

The spokesman added that the Attorney General had advised the Minister that full random breath testing would be unconstitutional, and a system of partial testing - testing at specified times - was being examined.