[PR] New Cross-border Anti-speeding Road Safety Campaign Launched

Victor

"Mess"

http://www.rsa.ie/NEWS/News/NEW_CROSS-BORDER_ANTI-SPEEDING_ROAD_SAFETY_CAMPAIGN_LAUNCHED.htmlFrom the RSA

NEW CROSS-BORDER ANTI-SPEEDING ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

“Speed is the biggest contributing factor to road deaths in Ireland .”

Excessive speed was a factor in almost 30% of road fatalities in the Republic of Ireland between 1996 and 2004 and a factor in 24% of road fatalities between 1996 and 2005 in Northern Ireland.

However, evidence shows that every time human error causes a road collision it is the speed of the vehicles which determines the outcome – whether someone lives or dies, or is maimed for life.

So while it is estimated that speed is directly killing an average of 141 people a year on this island. It could in fact be impacting on a total of over 500 road deaths a year on this island, making speed the biggest contributing factor to road deaths in Ireland.

This was the disturbing revelation made at the launch of “Mess” a new sixty seconds hard hitting anti-speeding TV advert from the Road Safety Authority, supported by Hibernian Insurance, and from the Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland, supported by Norwich Union.

The new advert graphically portrays how the selfish and shameful actions of a speeding driver, wrecks the lives of countless people in a split-second. The central message being – ‘The Faster the Speed, the Bigger the Mess’.

Launching the new campaign Mr. Martin Cullen T.D., Minister for Transport, said, We have all seen the carnage on our roads and in particular the number of young people who die because of excessive speeding - ruining lives, devastating families and communities. It is NOT acceptable behaviour. What is now required is a fundamental change in driver attitudes particularly amongst 17 to 25 year olds or many of them may not have a future - they will be dead as a result of a speed related collision.

DOE Permanent Secretary Stephen Peover, jointly launching the campaign, said: “Drivers give countless excuses for driving too fast but nothing can justify the consequences. What can justify the loss of 46 lives and 272 serious injuries on Northern Ireland’s roads last year as a result of excessive speed?

How many more times will we have to hear – ‘it was unexpected, there was nothing I could have done – it wasn’t my fault. The truth is that people choose to drive too fast. And the faster they drive, the more likely they are to be in a collision - and the more severe that collision is going to be.”

“Try telling a bereaved family that you were late for a meeting or you were enjoying the drive and thought you could handle the speed. Our message today is simple: combine speed with human error or the unexpected and the consequences will be tragic. We all make mistakes - when it’s your turn, what speed will you be doing?”

Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock, An Garda Síochána said, “We cannot change our past, but we can change our attitudes. We have that choice and if we embrace it, we will save lives”.

Assistant Chief Constable Roy Toner said: “We are committed to making our roads safer. We are tackling the issue of speed through education and enforcement. In the first three years of the Safety Camera Scheme there has been a 41% reduction in the number of fatal or serious injury collisions on those roads that have mobile or fixed safety cameras.

We will continue to focus on excessive and inappropriate speed through robust enforcement. We must influence driver behaviour and encourage them to slow down. Research shows that a reduction in speed leads to a reduction in collisions. If drivers continue to ignore our advice, they must be prepared to face the reality of a £60 fine and three penalty points when we detect them speeding."

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Dick O’Driscoll, Managing Director of Hibernian said, “This campaign sees Hibernian join forces with its sister company in the Northern Irish market, Norwich Union. As Ireland and the UK’s largest insurers, Hibernian and Norwich Union believe that we have a leading role to play in promoting responsible behaviour and safer driving on our roads. Research has shown clearly that the risk of a collision occurring rises as the speed at which a driver travels rises. We also know that a reduction in the incidence of serious injury and death will only come about through changing driver behaviour. As a result the end goal of the new campaign is to change driver behaviour. Achieving this goal requires a combination of education, enforcement and engineering. We are happy to play our part through this sponsorship with the Road Safety Authority.”

Mr. Gay Byrne, Chairman, Road Safety Authority said “We have a blind spot when it comes to speeding in this country. We drive too fast. We just simply don’t get the fact that the faster you go the greater the impact. And the greater the chances of inflicting serious or fatal injury on ourselves or others. This new ad is trying to correct a national misunderstanding. Trying to deliver a strong dose of reality. It puts the laws of physics into plain English. The faster the speed the bigger the MESS.”

Further information on speeding can be obtained from the Road Safety Authority by phoning locall 1890 50 60 80 or visiting www.rsa.ie; from the Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland by visiting www.doeni.gov.uk/roadsafety or phoning 028 9054 0540.

Cullen launches new North-South anti-speeding advertisement campaign

Speech by the Minister for Transport, Mr Martin Cullen TD at the launch of the All-Ireland Road Safety Campaign, Savoy Cinema, O'Connell Street, Dublin

D'Peoples Voice

Remember kids in the eyes of the Irish courts, speeding is not dangerous- as long as no-one has to jump out of the way!

http://www.emigrant.ie/article.asp?iCategoryID=177&iArticleID=60593

A 19-year-old who appeared at Donegal District Court on Friday to answer a charge of dangerous driving had the charge struck out by Judge Derek McVeigh on the grounds that he should have been charged with speeding. Paul McAteer from Letterkenny was recorded travelling at 197km/h at Barnesmore in March of last year but Judge McVeigh said that, since no one had to jump out of the driver's way, he wasn't driving dangerously. The judgement has been condemned by Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell. Readers of Saturday's newspapers found themselves trying to equate Judge McVeigh's assessment with the news that four young Co. Monaghan men had died overnight in a high-speed collision.

mackerski

Irish roads will soon be safe now. Remember kids, if you're going to drive badly, be sure to do it slowly.

Victor

mackerski wrote:

Irish roads will soon be safe now. Remember kids, if you're going to drive badly, be sure to do it slowly.

I'd almost say yes to that.

The difference between hitting something at a slow speed and a high speed is that a high speed, injuries and fatalites are much more severe.

http://www.rsa.ie/Home/upload/File/ROTR_2007.pdf

Page 9 wrote:

For example, a 5km/h difference in your speed could be the difference between life and death for a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian.
* Hit by a car at 60 km/h, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed.
* Hit by a car at 50 km/h, 5 out of 10 of pedestrians will be killed.
* Hit by a car at 30 km/h, 1 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed.
Source RoSPA UK

Our man in Havana

Pointless excercise until a cross border enforcement system comes into place.

mackerski

Victor wrote:

I'd almost say yes to that.

The difference between hitting something at a slow speed and a high speed is that a high speed, injuries and fatalites are much more severe.

http://www.rsa.ie/Home/upload/File/ROTR_2007.pdf

As against that, we're in a world where nothing is being done to address the root cause of bad driving. And in that world, you need a bloke with a red flag walking in front of every car to prevent fatalities.

Was any given bloke who hit a tree at 3AM going too fast? Certainly, if you care to use Newton's laws to rationalise the circumstances where we could have lived if driving more slowly. But if it turns out he was texting as he approached a bend, then it's hard to see that having him moderate his speed will help much.

E92

The whole point of a North South campaign is for Bertie and Feel and Fail to be seen to be helping to create Irish unity, albeit in a(very)disguised fashion. We are all supposede to be lovey dubby now. They can have all the ads in the world about speed, but the UK government reckons that speed is responsible for only 5% of deaths. As others have said, its ok to drive badly as long as you drive slowly.

Mackersai and Bond-007, ye hit the nail on the head on this issue.

Saying that speeding is a problem is populist but completely ignores the issue. It is the appaling standard of driving that contributes to deaths on our roads, and yes sometimes bad driving can be speeding but almost all of the time it is not. Why is it that Germany has far fewer deaths per head of the population, yet their Autobahns have no speed limit on 2/3 of the Autobahn network, and the other 1/3 that does have a speed limit, the speed limit is merely a suggestion, if you want to ignore it then you can, you cant be punished for it. The fact is that the Germans dont even have such a thing a learner drivers, when you are learning to drive you have to go to a Fahrschule(driving school) for quite some time (at a cost of at least €1,200), then you go a series of exams on the road, and finally you will be allowed drive. Because going to driving school is compulsory there, people don't start driving usually till they are in their 20s. Of course if we had a proper public transport network like the Germans of course do (like the trains which if they say they will leave at 5:00 it wont leave at 5:01 or even 4:59, it will leave at 5:00 on the dot, and many even half decently populated areas have 24 hr train services) then young people would be far less likely to be driving in the first place(and this is coming from someone who is completely car mad) and another thing that hasnt been mentioned is that where do young people get the money to buy some of the cars they are driving(I know this isnt the motors forum, and I'm sorry to those who arent interested in cars) but the likes of the Toyota Celica or Glanza turbo, not exactly slow cars, and they are quite expensive to insure tooso that needs to be looked into too. I honestly believe that the problems with some of the young people driving the cars they are driving is that they are too powerful for them to handle(and this is coming from someone who is car mad as I said and from someone who is under 25).

Alun

... and the other 1/3 that does have a speed limit, the speed limit is merely a suggestion, if you want to ignore it then you can, you cant be punished for it.

Absolute,complete and utter 100% bollocks.

On the sections with speed limits you can very definitely be punished, believe you me.

On the sections that don't have a speed limit, there is the so-called "Richtgeschwindigkeit" of 130km/h. Basically you can drive as fast as you like, if you're involved in any kind of accident, and it can be proved that you were driving over this speed, you will automatically be allocated a certain percentage of the blame for it, regardless of whether you did anything else wrong, or not.