Every road should be surveyed once every two years to remove accident blackspots, Fine Gael said yesterday when it launched a six-point plan to cut casualty figures on the State's roads, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
Much attention had so far rightly been devoted to speed and alcohol, said Fine Gael Meath TD Shane McEntee, but not enough has been said about the quality of the roads Irish drivers use.
"Better roads and better driving conditions, road conditions, road signage and markings, speed limits and driver training lead to fewer accidents and fewer deaths on our roads," said Fine Gael's spokesman on road safety.
The National Roads Authority currently carries out a limited number of audits of national primary and secondary roads, but this should be expanded to cover every road in the State.
"These audits will be carried out on an ongoing basis, with each regional and rural road surveyed once every two years. The results of these audits will be published each year and will set out where the particular road sits, in terms of the standards already set down by the authority, to ensure an acceptable standard of road safety," Mr McEntee said.
"The results of these audits will, critically, also inform the speed limits to be set on each particular road. The cost of this measure is estimated at €5 million," he said.
The existing €3 million budget held by local authorities to upkeep road signage should be doubled, while councils should face obligations to deal with "poor and deficient" signs.
Road accident investigation units should be created in each Garda division, supervised by the Garda Commissioner, to determine the root cause of all major accidents.
Each unit would be able to recruit civilians, including those with expertise in accident investigation, road engineering, forensics and other competencies deemed necessary, Mr McEntee said.
Criticising the performance of local authorities and the Department of the Environment, Mr McEntee said that existing speed limits should be immediately reviewed to "eradicate unmarked and illogical limits".
Five training centres should be established by private companies as centres of excellence, subject to licence by the Department of Transport, to train learner-drivers.
A publicity campaign to promote safer tyres should be organised by the National Road Safety Authority, offering advice on how to spot warning signs on motor tyres - including tyres with cuts, lumps and bulges, mixed tyres and those with a thin thread or bald spots.