ONTHE POT fines for speeding offenses are to be introduce soon, the Minister for the Environment said yesterday.
Revised traffic regulations will be brought in by the end of the year, Mr Howlin said, as well as a theory test for new drivers in accordance with EU requirements. In cooperation with the National Safety Council, the Minister was financially supporting the establishment of a voluntary register of driving instructors.
He said that in 1995, 437 people died and over 9,000 were injured as a result of road accidents.
This was the worst death rate since 1991, representing an average of 36 a month.
"Nor do the injury figures, though showing a marginal improvement, offer much comfort. Yet the reality is that the vast bulk of those accidents could have been avoided. They could have been avoided by the road user - the pedestrian, the cyclist, the motorcyclist."
Mr Howlin was launching Road Safety Together, a national campaign to promote road safety SS He also announced the publication by his Department of a Guide to Road Safety Engineering in Ireland, a code of practice for the treatment of high accident areas of roads through low cost engineering measures.
Mr Howlin said local authorities would have an expanded role in promoting road safety. He envisaged the local authority, through specially designated officers, leading a local working group involving engineers, gardai, teachers and others to promote road safety.
The publicity campaign will be run by the National Safety Council and will focus on speed and drink driving. It will target young road users, pedestrians and motorcyclists.
The Fianna Fail spokesman on the Environment, Mr Noel Dempsey, said the Minister's campaign lacked urgency. Over recent months there had been a serious rise in fatalities and injuries from road accidents.
"The Minister's campaign makes no effort to deal with the urgency it requires. Unless immediate measures are taken, there will be no reduction in fatalities."