Has Gaybo done anythin positive yet?

Archeron

I've just heard some of the anti-government moaners berating Gaybo's appointment as road safety spokesman, and it made me wonder. What has he actually done since he got into this role?

I ask this as a genuine question, as I dont know what he has done. Perhaps he has done great things, and it hasnt been publicised, but can anyone tell me? I was never a fan of Gaybo in the first place, so that may cloud my own personal judgement, but I'd love to hear if he has actually done anything positive. The only thing I remember is his saying how "disappointed" he was after a particularly carnage filled weekend. Really, you're disappointed? Well thats a job well done........

the cynic inside me is now really starting to think that this was a really cheap publicity stunt. As a result of this, I am beginning to think that the government give more of a damn about public perception with road safety than they do about actually saving lives. For all the talk and hot air about crackdowns on road safety and bad driver behaviour, I am still of the opinion that driving in Ireland is getting more and more dangerous by the week. Combine the poor driving skills of so many Irish on the roads with the number of learner drivers that simply cannot drive, the huge influx of foreign nationals who are not familiar with our roads and the sheer amount of bad feeling towards the gardai, and I think that we are facing a massive crisis. (dont get me wrong, I dont think its the fault of any one group, more just the dangerous soup it makes when you combine all of the above)

Does anyone know what the long term plans are to stop people being killed needlessly on our roads? What does Gaybo actually intend to do, aside from wagging his finger at us and telling us what we already know?

Henry Ford III

They've probably had a few meetings, lunches, that sort of thing

mikedragon32

I fail to comprehend his appointment.

Are we really supposed to take direction on safe motoring from an organisation chaired by a man who has confessed to driving while too young to do so and who didn't sit a test to attain his driving licence?

We have a "soundbite" Government who would rather have a media-savvy chair of a committee than someone with substantial experience/knowledge of road safety, but then again, why would they treat deaths on the road with any more gravitas than trollies in hospital corridors or the lack of affordable housing?

conor_mc

To be honest, I think it was a good appointment.

The Road Safety Authority has a CEO who has the required experience and knowledge of road safety issues. Gay Byrne is just a figurehead. Last year, the head of the National Safety Council resigned pretty much in protest at the lack of progress on road safety issues. The news story lasted about 3 days, if even that.

If Gay Byrne were to resign in similar circumstances, it would really put it up to the government. Hoist by their own pethard, as the saying goes.

And to be fair, it's pointless moaning about Gay Byrne not doing anything to change road safety and then each of us carries on with our usual driving habits - because its never my driving thats the problem, it's somebody else's driving. And I include myself in that criticism. What has Gay Byrne done for Road Safety? What about asking yourself what have YOU done for Road Safety instead? I know I've done diddly-squat, and yet I know I could be a better, safer driver.

He has thrown un-popular ideas out into the open (curfew on young drivers?) where a politician wouldn't dare to tread. Cue young drivers saying they're all safe and that its other young drivers that are at fault. But the thing is, we don't have a crystal ball to pick out the ones who'll be dead by the end of the year so that we can put a curfew on just those drivers. He has also helped to focus the media eye on the driving test scenario, and only a few weeks ago a deal was brokered with the union representing the driving testers(who were holding the whole thing up) to allow private testing to at least help clear the current backlog. Media attention brought the obstruction from this relatively small union to light.