[PR] Road safety chief quits after row

Victor

O_o

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/6830640?view=Eircomnet

Road safety chief quits after row
From:The Irish Independent
Saturday, 26th November, 2005

Treacy Hogan

ROAD safety chief Eddie Shaw has quit following a row with Transport Minister Martin Cullen.

He has headed the National Safety Council for six years.

He accused the Government of dragging its heels on road safety measures.

These include random breath-testing, computerised penalty points and speed cameras.

The shock resignation comes after a black period of road deaths and the failure of the Government to introduce its promised measures to curb the carnage.

The relationship between Shaw and Mr Cullen appeared to sour recently after submissions by the two men in front of a Dail committee.

Mr Shaw branded road safety policy in this country a "spectacular failure" resulting in 140 needless deaths this year alone.

None of the key measures of the Government Road Safety Strategy 2004-2006 has been rolled out.

Last night Mr Shaw confirmed to the Irish Independent that he has tendered his resignation.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/6830642?view=Eircomnet

Road safety chief quits after row with Cullen over strategy
From:The Irish Independent
Saturday, 26th November, 2005

Treacy Hogan
Environment Correspondent

THE Government's road safety chief has sensationally quit following a major disagreement with the Minister who appointed him.

Eddie Shaw, who has headed the National Safety Council for six years, resigned accusing the Government of dragging its heels over introducing and funding key road safety measures.

These include random breath-testing, computerised penalty points and speed cameras.

The shock resignation comes after a black period of road deaths and the failure of the Government to introduce its promised measures to curb the carnage. The relationship between Shaw and Transport Minister Martin Cullen appeared to sour recently after submissions by the two men in front of a Dail committee.

Mr Shaw branded road safety policy in this country a "spectacular failure" resulting in 140 needless deaths this year alone.

None of the key measures of the Government Road Safety Strategy 2004-2006 has been rolled out. There have been vague future promises without any budgets or specific timescales.

The minister went before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport the next day and accused Mr Shaw of "deliberately" presenting a review that was "somewhat overstated" in order to make his point."

Last night Mr Shaw confirmed to the Irish Independent that he has tendered his resignation to the minister but would make no further comment. The massive rift between the two men centres on Mr Shaw's publicly stated belief that the Minister for Transport alone cannot be responsible for road safety. Mr Shaw believes the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, should assume responsibility for road safety as is the case in France and Australia. He would be joined by the Ministers for Transport, Health and Justice on a committee implementing the road safety strategy. It is understood that this is not Mr Cullen's view.

Mr Shaw does not accept that random breath-testing cannot be introduced because of the advice from the Attorney General that it would be unconstitutional. He baldly stated at the Oireachtas Committee that no-one was responsible or accountable for road safety and that politicians were either "unwilling or unable" to change the system.

"It has failed at the highest level, the process doesn't work", he said accusing politicians of using road safety as a "political football".

According to Mr Shaw, road safety in Ireland is treated as just another cost, with no "joined up" thinking on the issue.

"There is no budget for road safety, no-one measures the benefits, no-one joins up the thinking, no-one is responsible, no-one is accountable. There is no will, no management," he charged.

Mr Shaw's comments at the Dail committee are backed up by the dismal failure of the Government to implement its target to cut deaths under the Road Safety strategy 2004-2006.

It is now clear that Random Breath Testing has been sidelined for the next few years, a privately operated network of speed cameras supervised by the gardai won't be up and running until after 2006.

And the Garda Traffic Corps won't be beefed up to adequate levels for at least another two years.

There is also still no sign of legislation to ban mobile phones. It is not clear when the new Road Safety Authority comes into force.

TempestSabre

We need better politicians.

mike65

I can't blame Eddie Shaw for throwing the towel in, nothing worse than being charged with a job while being held back at every turn by ones paymasters.

As long as deaths on the road are shugged off as somehow being acceptable nothing will change.

Mike.

dochasach

Now what? If he couldn't change the system from the inside, what chance to those of us on the outside have of reforming our horribly managed transportation system? Maybe things will change after the next general election.

Maskhadov

we need proper resources, proper numbers in the traffic corps, proper implementation of the penalty points, we need all the offences added to the scheme. this country is a mess

cyclopath2001

TempestSabre wrote:

We need better politicians.

We need better road users.