A Mayo View: Collective responsibility central to tackling road deaths crisis

The majority of motorists will readily admit to the fact that they dread long journeys these days because the odds of being involved in an accident are significantly increased.

That's because the major roads and motorways throughout the country are littered with drivers who have utterly no respect for other road users.

They drive at ridiculously fast speeds, overtake other vehicles in totally reckless fashion and consistently tailgate when they become frustrated.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are the painfully slow drivers who hog the lane, refusing to pull in at a hard shoulder to allow a build-up of traffic behind them to pass. They lead to impatient drivers taking undue risks, which can often end in a crash.

However, speed appears to be the leading cause of accidents and particularly so when a driver is under the influence of drink or drugs or both.

Despite all the great road safety campaigns, it is shocking that as of September 11 last, a total of 130 people have died on Irish roads this year, 25 more than the same period in 2022.

Earlier this year Galway County Council, at the request of Deputy Ciarán Cannon, carried out a traffic speed survey of cars entering a 60 km/h zone in Craughwell village.

They measured the speed of 45,000 vehicles over a week. Some 84% of those vehicles exceeded the speed limit.

The average speed recorded was 88 km/h, with one car travelling at 159 km/h.

Craughwell is not alone in experiencing this extraordinary pandemic of speed and carelessness on the part of motorists.

It's happening in every town and village across the nation.

The number of pedestrians dying in incidents on Irish roads doubled last year to 155 people.

Deputy Cannon has called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to engage directly with An Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority and the Minister for Transport to ensure there is far greater enforcement of speed limits and that they work collectively and actively with local authorities in putting in place traffic calming measures.

He also made the valid point that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) should actively support the development of traffic calming measures rather than obstructing them.

Mayo has its own accident blackspots and works have taken place on some - but not on others.

The place where works have taken place had to wait years and years for it to happen.

It begs the question in regard to how serious the government really is tackling the problem despite an endless series of awareness campaigns that have failed to have the desired impact.

Nobody has yet come up with a definitive response to the crisis.

Collective responsibility would be a decent starting point.

Please slow down and respect other road users.