A NEW TELEVISION AD campaign aimed at reducing the number of people killed and injured on Irish motorways has been launched.

Over 100 people have died or been seriously injured in collisions on the motorways. Six people have died on Ireland’s motorways so far this year.

Pedestrians are reminded never to walk onto a motorway, regardless of their reason or urgency. Eleven pedestrians have been killed on motorways since 2005.

Hard shoulder dangers

The AA, which supports the Road Safety Authority’s new ad campaign, said in a statement that it is urging its members to ensure they are fully informed on how to use a motorway correctly.

The organisation’s policy director Conor Faughnan said that although Ireland now has a motorway network, its drivers were never taught how to use them. Speaking of driving on motorways, Faughnan said:

Traffic moves at high speed and when collisions occur they can be catastrophic. The hard shoulder, for example, is an extremely dangerous place to be, yet some drivers use it almost casually. In darkness or in foggy conditions the danger is magnified and drivers need to be aware of it.

AA Patrol employee John McGuinness was seriously injured in a collision on the motorway while attending a member’s breakdown on the hard shoulder last August. The AA said that although McGuinness was seriously injured, by following the necessary safety protocols, his behaviour “probably saved lives that day”.

He had insisted that the car driver and their teenage daughter, who was sitting across the back seats of the car, leave the broken-down vehicle and sit in his AA van just before it was struck by another car.

Among his injuries, McGuinness suffered a broken kneecap, broken leg and fractured jaw. The teenage girl escaped injury and her mother suffered shoulder injuries in the collision.

He says no one should attempt a car repair on the hard shoulder of a motorway, despite their level of experience. “Leave it to trained professionals who have the proper equipment,” he said, “Get off the road if you can, and if your car won’t move at all then stay as far to the left of the hard shoulder as possible and call us for help.”

On average, the AA attends 60 breakdowns on a motorway per week.

Revised penalty points plan

Meanwhile, the government is planning a scheme whereby new drivers getting six penalty points within two years of passing their test would be banned from driving. Currently, a driver has to rack up 12 points before being banned.

The Irish Independent reports that drivers will have to display ‘R’ for ‘restricted’ plates on their vehicle for two years after getting a licence. The new measures were proposed by the RSA last September and are expected to be brought before the cabinet by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar in the coming weeks.

Check the number of penalty points for driving offences (via the RSA):