The RSA

AugustusMaximus

With the RSA in the spot light once again with their sexist campaign, "He drives, she dies", I've had a good think about what the RSA have done over the last 3 years of its existance.

To my mind, not very much.

We've seen a drop in road fatalities, however, I believe this should be put down to three points.

1. The improving standards of our roads, with vast stretches of Motorway and DC opening continually opening up.
2. The worsening economy which has had the effect of reducing traffic on our roads.
3. Alcohol breath testing. More breath testing and random breath testing has surely helped. However, legislating for random breath testing doesn't have to do with the RSA.


If you take that the 3 points above are what have caused the reduction, what have the RSA actually done ?

From my points of view, the following.

1. Produced numerous ads where as usual, a young male driver has a crash due to speeding. I can't remember, ever seeing a female driver having a crash.
2. Produced numerous ads in regards to drink driving.
3. Install a man as spokesman (Gay Byrne) who has no past road safety expierience. All he does is tell everyone to slow down.
4. Run an unbelievably sexist campaign telling women not to get into cars when men are driving them.

And that's about it. Where are the initiatives focusing on other rules of the road such as lane discipline, proper indicator usage, overtaking proceedure, etc etc. (Yes, there was an add on overtaking, overtaking on a dual carriageway and it was a very small campaign).

Why no focus on altering driving for different weather conditions. No focus on pushing for better road maintenance. No focus on ensuring people look after their cars, even if there is an NCT ?

From what I can tell, the RSA is a pityful organisation who like to take the route of least resistance, IE, going after drinkers and young male drivers. The whole organisation needs to be looked at and a whole new approach from the organisation to road safety needs to be implemented.

Dropping the condescending tone of their ads might be a help too.

Cookie_Monster

Good Post.


If the RSA were in anyway serious about road safety and improving knowledge they would be insisting that driving education becomes part of the secondary school curriculum. Can be easily slotted in as a 4th year subject with the appropriate support.

KamiKazi

+1millionty

r3nu4l

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

Where are the initiatives focusing on other rules of the road such as lane discipline, proper indicator usage, overtaking proceedure, etc etc. (Yes, there was an add on overtaking, overtaking on a dual carriageway and it was a very small campaign).

Yup, a huge number of poor decisions by frustrated drivers could be prevented if lane discipline and driver courtesy was highlighted as a cause of accidents. Just because you're not the one who crashed or got crashed into does not mean you weren't in part the cause of the crash!

De Hipster

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

3. Install a man as spokesman (Gay Byrne) who has no past road safety expierience. All he does is tell everyone to slow down.

Who has also very publicly admitted to having regularly drunk-driven until the director general of RTÉ provided a car for him.

fischer

Not forgetting that he (Gay Byrne) hasn't actually sat a test for his B licence (IIRC).

Fischer.

Yakult

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

Why not focus on altering driving for different weather conditions. No focus on pushing for better road maintenance. No focus on ensuring people look after their cars, even if there is an NCT ?

+18028082082

I think they need to make people aware of how to alter their driving pending on the weather conditions. Imo an ad highlighting how you should drive in heavy rain etc. will be more usefull to a driver rather than telling them that men kill women with their driving.

The arent promoting road safty at all with those silly ad's. :rolleyes:

De Hipster

R_H_C_P wrote: »

+18028082082

I think they need to make people aware of how to alter their driving pending on the weather conditions. Imo an ad highlighting how you should drive in heavy rain etc. will be more usefull to a driver rather than telling them that men kill women with their driving.

...or fog/ice/any other prevailing weather condidtions that this country regularly experiences.

slimjimmc

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

And that's about it. Where are the initiatives focusing on other rules of the road such as lane discipline, proper indicator usage, overtaking proceedure, etc etc. (Yes, there was an add on overtaking, overtaking on a dual carriageway and it was a very small campaign).

And there was an equally brief TV campaign on how to make a right turn off a main road without cutting up the cyclist waiting on the minor road.

Do they have any influence on road design standards?

How about they run some sort of lottery where you have to correctly answer 5 questions on the RotR before you can enter, a bit like 'His Greyness' did during his TV days. Might get (some) people looking at the rules for the first time.

Actually they could at least start clarifying many of the ambiguous rules in the RotR such as no overtaking on the left (e.g. what does 'overtake' mean in this context, what is 'slow moving traffic')

endplate

Spoke to somebody who works in the RSA she said Gaybo has lost a lot of interest in the RSA since been announced as stand in presenter to the Late late really shows where this money hungry muppet's loyalties really are. RSA are another quango set up in Celtic tiger times and are now trying to justify their existance

galwaytt

...indeed.

How about getting off their arse's and making sure that signage - e.g. roundabout signage, is up to standard. Can't really give out about lane discipline if there is no related sign-discipline.

'sfunny- I noticed a cone in a pothole only 50metres from and RSA's house this eve.........

Oh, and only 2km from the site of that all-female crash during the week.

...irony, huh ?

cyclopath2001

slimjimmc wrote: »

How about they run some sort of lottery where you have to correctly answer 5 questions on the RotR before you can enter, a bit like 'His Greyness' did during his TV days. Might get (some) people looking at the rules for the first time.

Far more people know the rules than actually obey them.

Everyone knows you're not supposed to break speed limits, but they just do it anyway. I don't think any amount of education will change their attitude. The same goes for indicating, parking on footpaths and stopping on amber.

Better to put the resources into enforcement.

Beta Ray Bill

Having read this Post and many other posts recently about the RSA I wrote them a letter of complaint.

I am also sending it to local councilers, TD and minister for transport

I'll let you know if they even bother replying.

Saab Ed

The Really Sexist Authority more like it...

Total waste of money. Like prevous posters have said the reduction in deaths is down to newer better roads , less traffic and pure pot luck. Nothing at all to do with the RSA who seem to be hell bent on making young male drivers the enemy of the state.

Voodoomelon

So many accidents could be avoided if they made two simple adverts.

1. How to use a motorway
2. How to use a roundabout

Cuddlesworth

Voodoomelon wrote: »

So many accidents could be avoided if they made two simple adverts.

1. How to use a motorway
2. How to use a roundabout

I would have said how to use indicators first and foremost.

It wouldn't be that hard, a short two piece video would do.

The first piece would be a normal Irish manoeuvre. Slam on brakes out of nowhere, swerve widely out into the opposite lane in preparation for the upcoming turn like you were driving a 50 Foot Artic not a Nissan Micra, slow down to a absolute crawl, begin to turn, casually half way around the corner flick on the indicator, complete turn blatantly oblivious to chaos caused.

The second, how to actually take the corner properly.

Saab Ed

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I would have said how to use indicators first and foremost.

It wouldn't be that hard, a short two piece video would do.

The first piece would be a normal Irish manoeuvre. Slam on brakes out of nowhere, swerve widely out into the opposite lane in preparation for the upcoming turn like you were driving a 50 Foot Artic not a Nissan Micra, slow down to a absolute crawl, begin to turn, casually half way around the corner flick on the indicator, complete turn blatantly oblivious to chaos caused.

The second, how to actually take the corner properly.

....and this all after said driver has sat in the outside lane of the motorway with a que behind them for miles :mad:

Beta Ray Bill

Once I have sent the letter, to all of its intended correspondent's I will post it on here as well.

I hope you guys don't mind but I did use some of your opinions.

I also rambled on a small but about what the RSA need to do rather than just complain about what they are doing currently.