We’ve just had another bloody weekend … so we ask the same questions we asked last time … “what can we do to cut down on the number of deaths on our roads?” “how can we get people to slow down?”. Give it a week and it’s all forgotten, till the next bloody weekend when we ask the same questions again.
I’ll tell you what can be done. Enforce the fucking rules!! That might not be a bad place to start. Start checking for speed on … wait for it … roads where accidents actually happen, not on roads where it’s just easy to make some dosh. Or how about doing random breath tests in every town every weekend night … never thought of that one? This wrecks my head sometimes, I have to be honest.
Rather than rant on, which I’d love to do, here’s a few constructive thoughts on what I think could/should be done.
Speed & Breath Checks
• Speed checks!!! (I drove for over 3 hours today and didn’t see a single speed check, saw plenty of speeding cars though)
- Permanent speed checks on all main roads, all dangerous roads or roads where accidents have occurred
• Random breath testing every night (esp weekend) in every town in Ireland
Citizens Action
• Encourage members of the public to spill the beans on people who drink and drive, drive recklessly or drive illegally
• Encourage members of the public to continually blast their horns at people driving recklessly, breaking speed limits or over taking at dangerous speeds
• Encourage parents to educate their kids about driving dangers or to make their kids get proper driving lessons
• Encourage people to leave the car at home when they go out, to always nominate a designated driver or to find alternative modes of transport
Our Roads
• Review of speed limits especially on narrow or winding roads
• More improvements to our roads to improve space & visibility for example.
• Better road signs/markings for dangerous stretches of roads.
Offenders
• Stricter sentencing for offenders (heavier driving bans)
• Offenders required to undergo re-training & re-testing after their driving bans
• Previous offenders car type restricted based on weight to power ratio
• Community service schemes for offenders … let them see first hand what alcohol can do to a person, or the sort of physiotherapy some crash victims may have to go through
New Drivers
• Graduated points system … new drivers should have half points for a certain period of time
• Either do away with or totally overhaul our provisional licence system. A learner licence should be for learning only. Failing your test should put you off the road until you can pass it
• Mandatory driving course from qualified instructors, not learning from your da down the back roads (like I did, before I got proper lessons)
• No car insurance unless you can provide proof of having undergone a minimum number of driving lessons and perhaps some sort of certificate of competency from the driving school (prior to doing the test)
• Education on road safety in schools. If it requires it, show kids what happens to the human body when someone is killed at speed. Show them driving may be fun but driving recklessly can kill.
Cars
• Car type for new drivers restricted based on power-to-weight ratio and all horsepower modifications banned.
• Beepers to be fitted on all cars (ever hear those annoying beppers on some cars … where you go over the limit and the beepers emit this really annoying beep until you slow down?)
• Speed limiters on cars
They’re just some suggestions, nothing new really. Of course all of these things are well and good but what’s really needed is a change in attitude from Irish drivers. Not only do we need to slow down and drive more carefully but we should no longer tolerate other drivers who put us and our families at risk.
Update: Cllr Damien Blake (a FF’er, but no-ones perfect) is running a “Stop The Carnage” campaign on his blog. A lot of other bloggers have gotten on board too.