We can put the brakes on the carnage on our roads

As a community we can save 120 lives and avoid 800 to 900 serious injuries every year

As a community we can save 120 lives and avoid 800 to 900 serious injuries every year. But we won't do so - at least not voluntarily, writes Eddie Shaw.

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are easy to find. Just go outside and look under the bonnet - that's it, the internal combustion engine.

Rightly considered as an engineering marvel of the 20th century, it brought freedom of the highway to a new generation. But at a cost.

It was designed to travel, not to kill. In the pre-enlarged EU of 15 countries, more than 40,000 citizens are killed each year, and 1.3 million are injured.

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In Ireland in the 1970s, our kill rate peaked at an average of 50 deaths per month. In 1997 we averaged 40 per month. In 2003 we averaged 28 per month.

For every person killed, we estimate that eight or so are seriously injured - the forgotten casualties. The killing trend is reducing.

As a community and an electorate we demand, among other things, quality healthcare, a safe and secure environment, quality education, a good standard of living and lower costs (like insurance premiums).

Among our community of 4 million are 2.2 million licensed drivers, of whom about 350,000 are provisional-license holders. We have 1.9 million licenced vehicles, of which 1.6 million are private cars, and we travel on 98,000 kilometres of road.

And we kill and seriously injure 3,000 road users every year - that's 1,000 more than it could and should be every year. That's the paradox.

As a community we can save 120 lives and avoid 800 to 900 serious injuries every year. All we have to do is slow down a little (say five miles per hour), don't drive while impaired (by drink, drugs, fatigue or any combination), wear seatbelts and use child restraints, and be more aware of our own and others' vulnerability on the roads.

It's a responsibility thing. We cause the crashes that kill and maim, and we can stop them. But we won't, at least not voluntarily.

It's a pity. If we did we would reduce the demand for scarce resources in the acute hospital sector, we would release scarce Garda time to focus on crime and social disorder, the environment would be safer and insurance premiums would fall.

And yes, though we would never know who, some people would be alive and uninjured.

Fanciful claptrap? Nanny state? Gardaí hiding behind bushes? Well then riddle me this.

During 2002, road deaths had fallen to an average of 30 per month from 40 per month in 1997. Penalty points for speeding were introduced on November 1st, 2002, by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, - and there was considerable opposition. It was just one measure under the Government Road to Safety Strategy 1998-2002.

Then something extraordinary happened. In the next four months 85 people were killed on our roads - just over 20 per month. That is the annual equivalent of six per 100,000 of our population. That, regrettably, is as good as it gets; the killing rate that is. That compares with the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland (the best performers in Europe), Victoria and Queensland in Australia, and they have been working on road safety strategies for more than 20 years.

The only variable that seems to have changed in that four-month period was driver behaviour. Why? The roads were the same. Enforcement was the same. The TV commercials were the same.

With the introduction of penalty points for speeding, (some) drivers firstly became aware of speed limit signs (we know this because they rang the National Safety Council, the National Roads Authority, the Garda and other places asking what limits applied on certain roads).

Secondly, many drivers had a perception that if they broke the speed limit they would be caught, fined, penalty pointed and eventually disqualified.

So, across the country many drivers slowed down. The consequences were dramatic. The spinal injury unit of the Mater Hospital reported a reduction in admissions of 50 per cent in the first half of 2003, attributed primarily to a reduction in road traffic collisions.

A&E admissions from road traffic collisions across the country were reduced, ranging from 20 to 30 per cent. Motor insurance premiums have fallen (and could and should fall much more).

Drivers had a "perception" that if they broke the law they would be caught, fined, penalty pointed and disqualified at 12 points.

So tell me anything you like, but do not tell me it cannot be done. It was done, and it was you that did it, not the nanny state.

Now we come to the difficult bit. To repeat this achievement and to save 1,000 unnecessary deaths and serious injuries every year, the Government needs to invest some money. The reality is that the level of enforcement must be such that the motorists believe that if they break the law there is a high probability they will be caught.

There is another advantage. Where traffic policing operates at this level it prevents and detects other criminal activity.

Apart from the pain and suffering avoided, it is the best money the Government can invest on behalf of the community. It takes political will and a multi-annual investment approach to budgeting. It is a compelling case.

Eddie Shaw is chairman of the National Safety Council