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LAST UPDATE | 1 Sep 2023
THE GARDAÍ HAVE urged the public to be aware of road safety whether they are driving, walking, or cycling after the latest road fatality, and ahead of the busy Electric Picnic weekend.
Superintendent Tom Murphy from the Garda Roads Policing Bureau, speaking at Garda HQ today, said more has to be done to raise road safety awareness.
In light of the tragic incident that happened at Busáras last night, in which a man in his 20s was killed after being struck by a bus, Superintendent Murphy said it is up to everyone to practice road safety, in order to bring the number of road fatalities down.
“First and foremost I want to extend on behalf of An Garda Siochana, our sympathies to the families and friends of a young male, who was tragically killed in a collision in Dublin City centre overnight.
“This brings us to a total of 126 fatalities in Ireland this year so far, with 25 in the month of August alone,” he said.
Superintendent Murphy added that as we come into the winter, it is up to everyone to play their part in practicing road safety.
“Everyone has a part to play. This time of the year I would ask drivers and vehicle operators to check their vehicles for items that may fail in between NCT testing such as tyres, wiper blades, lighting, and all the run of the mill equipment in a car that plays a role in keeping people safe on our roads,” he said.
Superintendent Murphy added that he is aware of calls for road policing enforcement to be “stepped up”, including from Minister of State Jack Chambers, but said that Gardaí are “playing our part” when it comes to enforcement, and “out patrolling 24/7″.
He pointed out that there have been over 100,000 speeding detections, and over 5,000 drunk driving detections, with the latter being on par with the figures from last year.
“Recently we have seen a lot of single vehicle collisions, and it is hard to say if enforcement could have prevented those cases. That is why road safety awareness is important, especially coming into the winter months,” he added.
Superintendent Murphy said that making Ireland’s road safer isn’t just down to putting pressure on drivers. He said that cyclists need to ensure that their lights and breaks are working, and that they are able to hear approaching people and traffic.
He mentioned that cycling a bike with earphones in is a finable offence in Spain, but added that it would be a matter for Government to bring in similar legislation.
“We need people to check, and double check before they cross the road, or come out of a junction. We need pedestrians walking on dark evenings to avail of high vis jackets, which can be provided by the Road Safety Authority.
Superintendent Murphy said that the latest statistics from Transport Infrastructure Ireland have shown that people are not always dropping their speeds in light of bad weather conditions on the M7.
“We have seen that even in torrential rain, drivers aren’t reducing speed. The M7 has a bit of a microclimate, you get hailstones the size of golf balls, and people should [dropping their speed] down. Although they are not surpassing the speed limit, they still aren’t driving at the appropriate speed for the conditions,” he said.
The Garda said that campaigns on TV, and on social media to capture the attention of younger audiences do play a role in raising awareness of road safety, but that ultimately it is up to each individual to “take responsibility” for the safety of themselves and others on the roads.
Superintendent Murphy said that the Speed Limit Review should go someway to improving addressing issues with default speed limits, but that the review is with the Department at this stage.
He also added that welfare supports, including the option of counselling, are being made available to Gardaí who have attended difficult and challenging car crash scenes in County Tipperary over the last few weeks.
Superintendent Murphy said it is difficult to “put a finger on” what has caused the rise in road fatalities this year, but suggested that people have steadily been travelling more on the roads since the end of the pandemic.
He added that it is important for people to disconnect from social media and mobile phones when they are driving, walking or cycling along roads, and to be totally focused on their safety and that of others.
Meanwhile, the Road Safety Authority of Ireland (RSA) and An Garda Siochana are urging road users to stay safe on the roads this weekend while the Electric Picnic festival is going on.
The RSA is reminding festival-goers of the risks of driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
When the Electric Picnic organisers applied for their license this year, Judge Andrew Cody expressed his concerns about festival-goers driving home on the Monday morning while tired or intoxicated.
He drew attention to a crash that occurred in 2006 just two miles outside of Portlaoise, in which three young people from Cork lost their lives on the Monday afternoon after another festival. The coroner in the case concluded the crash happened as a result of tiredness.
In light of these concerns, the bars at Electric Picnic will close an hour earlier on the Sunday night, and on Monday the car parks will remain open until 4pm, to accommodate drivers until they are fit to get behind the wheel.
Attendees are being asked to plan their journeys to and from the festival and to consider public transport, asking for a lift from someone fit to drive, or taking a taxi if they are under the influence.
Dedicated public transport routes, along with an allocated drop off area should make taking public transport to the festival easier this year.
The Gardaí will have a dedicated Traffic Management Plan in place, and they are asking for drivers to familiarise themselves with the route they are taking and the speed limits along it ahead of time.
Important to remember that it’s a legal requirement on the part of the school, they’re only doing their jobs in terms of safeguarding, isn’t that what we want? tusla will then follow up on each one and if covid was the reason then that’ll be that. No need to assume tusla is going to copy and paste a load of care orders and take a pile of kids away from their parents. Let’s see in 6months time what actually happens.
@TomTraubert: I agree completely, my daughter has missed a lot of days due to the department of health. Headache, sore throat for example. She’s in 6th class so was chancing her arm. A few antigen and pcr tests have stopped that. Although she was a close contact twice so that was 10 days gone
@TomTraubert: At the same time people were told to stay home from work if sick and keep the kids home from school if sick, rather than spread the virus, which was the correct thing to do. If TUSLA are taking it on themselves to chase down parents who followed health advice, they need to have a chat with the minister of health, who to my knowledge, is who they answer to, rather than take on tasks to justify their jobs. Thankfully, I’ve had no dealings with them, but I know several families that had, and what I have been told is they usually work on the assumption of guilty until proven innocent.
@Joe_X: If It is the schools that are doing the reporting as per the headline, then the Minister for Health needs to pull the Minister for Education on it since the teachers are going against public health advice and wasting everyone’s time.
@Joe_X: no. But let’s for a minute consider what would happen if schools didn’t report or just took the word of parents that kept their kids at home etc. There’s no way of then knowing what kids were legitimately off school or those that weren’t. Some kids with serious problems would then fall through the cracks. Then we’d have people like you demanding the minister and all in Tusla be hung drawn and quartered on O’Connell bridge. Don’t look at everything as being a big bad corrupt wanting to destroy the ordinary man arm of the state. Nobody can ever win with that attitude.
@TomTraubert: and it’s sad that I have to clarify this but I’m neither a teacher nor do I work for Tusla.
Doesn’t take much to stress some people these days.
@Justin Gillespie: can you blame them with the way our government operates.
You can be sure anything to do with the public service will be a mess.
It is a legal requirement on the part of the school to report absences over a set amount of days. They are just doing their jobs.
These parents need to get a grip and apply some common sense. Article should be about Schools following their legally required protocols and how it’s a good thing.
@me: how many teachers weren’t doing their job ‘teaching’ but out with ‘Covid’ !!!
The headline should say parents have no need to be stressed. It explains it all in the article. Typical journal trying its best to turn into a rag.
My child had missed over 20 days precovid due to illnesses. So we were reported as per regulation. I never heard anything from Tusla because guess what? They have bigger problems to deal with! If your child has been out for genuine reasons nobody is coming knocking on your door. They are looking for the child who misses every ‘payday’ because the parents are on the piss. Or just never goes to school. There are enough true neglect & abuse cases out there to keep them busy. I wish this rule had been in place when i was a child.
No mention of reporting the teachers for so many absences with no replacements in important exam years.
@Tom’s: Well ‘Tom’s’ if you have evidence that a teacher is behaving in a fraudulent manner then there are mechanisms to report them. I’d imagine it’s the evidence part you’re stuggling with is it?
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin:
What are you on about “fraudulent”.I’m talking about many teacher absences with no replacements.
Your very defensive I must have touched a nerve.
Typically Teachers making a hash of things
Look at our government……full of teachers and still making a hash of things
@Mark Walsh: Try reading the article!
@Mark Walsh: Cupid Stunt.
@Mark Walsh: Eh?? What article did you read?
I had to read the first part twice. All it says basically is parent totally oblivious to school policy and legal obligations. Issue is with the rule. I actually emailed norma on this a year ago as we missed 17 days for one isolation period following a household covid outbreak. She “has recieved my email and taken the content into consideration”. My point to her was reporting all the covid leave makes the safety net for kids who need this system less effective. Not the stress on the parents.
So parents need to be spoonfed now as well as their children.
The traditional family is no longer supported by capitalist greed so the state is creating bodies such as Tusla. Bit by bit the state will gain more control of our children.The traditional family with one parent working and the other surrounded by a big flock of children was nature’s way and provided the most stable happy children.
@John Moloney: hilarious that you think women can be forced back into the kitchen to surround herself with a ‘big flock of children’ and to be beholden to misogynists like yourself. I’d ask the children born ‘out of wedlock’ how stable and happy their childhoods were.
@EillieEs: I never mentioned women.
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