Road Safety
As I write this note the number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year stands at 260. It may be an obscenity to refer to a figure like that as being 'good', but the reality is that it is 15% lower than last year. 2007 in turn saw an 8% reduction on 2006 figures. It is beginning to seem as if real, sustained progress is being made in the fight against road death.
There is still some way to go before the year end. There are still people walking around now who will be empty chairs amid shattered families at the Christmas table. But on the whole, statistically at least, things are getting better.
We have climbed from near bottom to upper mid-table in the EU league but there is still some distance to go before our performance matches that of places like the Netherlands, the UK and Sweden.
There are more Garda in evidence on the roads. Motorists are used to being breath tested and have become wary of speed traps. The primary roads have become steadily better and that has certainly helped.
More importantly, Irish motorists are doing their bit. They accept that you need to be disciplined and responsible on the roads.
While deaths are fewer, there are still a huge number of collisions where people are being injured and facing long-term care or disability. These cost society heavily, and those costs are escalating (as we will see in insurance price rises next year). For purely economic reasons, it pays to invest in reducing those collisions.
We still await the installation of speed cameras. A lot of motorists are in no hurry to see them; people have emailed me comparing them to turkeys waiting for Christmas. For sure we will have to 'guard the guardians', and make sure they are not abused. The AA has nearly 500,000 members, which gives us a lot of eyes to watch them with.
But they are part of a suite of policies that we know from the experience of other countries will be effective in stopping crashes happening, and we do all want to achieve that.
Finally, it's worth noting that we are heading into one of the most dangerous times of the year. You've heard all the warnings before... speeding, seatbelts, drinking...
Lets be safe out there. Happy Christmas to you and yours...
Conor