A wonderful illustration showing how much public space we’ve handed over to cars

That's illegally early in many council areas.

What would be a better response? In recent history responses have had very little in general to do with the accidents that gave the response

In Dungarvan, Waterford a few years ago they reduced the limit on one of the roads from 100km/h to 80km/h because some lads were drunk and drugged off their head

Another good example is the infamous "Ciaran Tracey" law. When a drunk driver was 17 times the legal limit so we decide to reduce it from one pint to half a pint.

They wouldn't have been much help before the incidents

There were 1,292 serious injuries last year caused by car crashes (note, not necessarily life changing) over 2,000 in 1997 so we are getting better in that respect as well. 600 in the first 8 months would average to be 910 for the year if nothing changes... That's a good drop

Important to remember as well there are many more LHD cars on our roads in the last 12 months between Ukranian refugees and mainland tourists, I know I've seen them. That can only be worse for our stats

This is in part due to the Gardai and the State with minimal effort made in dealing with road traffic issues, the State not getting a grip of planning and not modernising transport infrastructure, zero improvement in cycle lanes and simply completely seperating them motor vehicles.

There seems to be an interest in catching out people a relatively insignificant speed over the limt on wide open roads, but nothing much done about other aspects of dangerous driving. Given the expected excuse that Gardai cant be everywhere and dont have the manpower, Id suggest automating speeding monitoring on certain routes to an integrated average speed monitoring system and even allowing uploading or reporting of instances from dashcams for dangerous driving/overtaking (unlikely speeding would hold any water unless caught by an official and calibrated detection device).

Lately (in the last year) I have seen horrifically careless drivers overtaking, on double white lines, driving up bus lanes all typically at speed, with more than half being N plate drivers. That said, many drivers are completely reckless with overtaking where it could cause a collision. Saw one car blatantly driving around a sweeping left turning bend, overtaking me and another vehicle in front of me and persisted towards an oncoming vehicle.

As for the OP, how much public space is delegated to cars, there isnt an alternative, and it would be great if there was, in reality, where homes have been built and people live, it is necessary (essential) for people to have cars, so there needs to be a road network. The OP may live somewhere it isnt essential to have a car to get around, others arent in that situation. Just because the road network may not be used by them all the time doesnt mean they dont need it. Vehicles bring goods (food being an example) to high density areas too, public transport isnt necessarily available for all locations or isnt practical or the cost of accomodation at a persons destination isnt available or cost effective, so a person may need their own transport to get to and from a specific location (work/college etc).

Just because a lot of space (necessarily so) is dedicated to cars and other vehicles, does not mean we cant have other options available, such as dedicated cycling lanes, park and rides & public transport to match. It isnt available because our National bodies arent integrated or following any national plan.

Again, you are throwing stuff out there like its a fact, just because more people cycle doesnt mean it will get safer, unless something is done to make it safer, which I havent seen any susbtantial changes in decades, if anything it is worse than before or has ever been.

Very easy to tell someone to walk 2-4km when a return journey would be up to half an hour, maybe they are picking a few children up at a time from school, which is very likely what many of these journeys are, its quick, convenient and safer to travel at a safe speed by car as it is to walk around many towns streets or up unlit roads. Is the green party expecting pensioners to walk to mass or do a local shop on small country roads?

I looked at that article which says 51% of people surveyed said they would drive a short distance, but it still only represented 20% of all journeys (which the article goes out of its way to highlight), which tells me that half of people will drive a short distance if they think they need to (a survey taken in the Winter), but it only represents a small fraction of their personal journeys overall. So the article headline is very misleading which makes it sound like more than half of short journeys overall are under 2km when its only a fifth. Walking still represents a high proportion of shorter journeys people take, Im surprised its 44%, which is fairly substantial. Also, while the article says it should take 20 minutes to walk that distance, I have calculated they have rounded that down a bit, with another 20mins at least to return. I cant see most people who have an alternative of picking up a few items in a nearby shop, children (journey types highlighted in the article) wether they be an elderly person or a parent driving for a journey. Just because a destination is relatively near, still does not mean it is safe to walk or practical to get to other than by a car. The article does highlight where public transport is available, people avail of it, and cycling journeys represent a very small amount of journeys (unsurprisingly) given our poor infrastructure and how weather can be. Without proper facilites and cycling infrastructure very few people will take to cycling in this country unless its essential imo. I used to do it for years when I had to, and its miserable in the cold and wet weather and it is as unsafe if not less safe than it was before with lots of reckless inconsiderate drivers (not all, but all it takes is one or a few). Having been knocked off a bicycle once myself by a car & I knew a person killed while cycling to work, I wouldnt try to foist onto people how they should get around. Safer is better, and it is possible to do a small shop and collect a few sprogs at a safe speed out of the weather in small car, not possible to do all that in one go while walking or cycling and not safely.

The solution isnt to browbeat, guilt or demand people not take their car for any journey of any type until a suitable effective safe alternative or infrastructure is available, as the article highlights people use public transport where it is available. If other options are available, I think people will avail of them where possible.