2 days ago
Bigger isn't always better when it comes to using Irish roads
Another witness appeal was launched by gardaí on Thursday after a man in his 40s was killed in Croom, Co Limerick, at approximately 7.25am.
A woman in her 30s was also hospitalised in the commuter-time crash.
As of Wednesday, 103 people were killed on Irish roads this year.
The latest death came as an independent report into roads policing, produced by Crowe consultancy, found 'shocking' and 'disturbing' behaviour from a minority in roads policing units across six garda divisions.
The report found that many gardaí were 'strongly motivated to be highly productive', and it 'found no evidence of a systematic, organised culture of work avoidance, or deliberately poor performance within roads policing".
However, some gardaí reportedly parked patrol vehicles out of sight to avoid all road policing.
A small number seemed disinterested that their automatic number plate recognition equipment was switched off or malfunctioning.
Supervisors reported being unable to supervise effectively due to structural problems in reporting systems and due to reported fears of industrial relations disputes. Poor equipment and staff shortages were also identified as problems.
Staff vacancies
Significant vacancies meant that the 623 roads policing gardaí, working as of October 31, 2024, represented a 40% reduction from the 1,046 in place in 2009.
Ireland has long had a problem with road deaths.
In 1998, there were 458 deaths. This number had dropped to 172 in 2024, but 172 deaths is still far too many. Both attitudes and laws have changed since the 1990s around road safety.
Recent changes include the reduction in speed limits from February this year in a bid to reduce deaths and injuries.
One of these measures targets rural roads — which have been the dreadful location for many deaths.
Speed limits there have now dropped from 80 km/h to 60 km/h as part of the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, which aims to achieve zero road deaths or serious injuries by 2050.
However, as more responsible attitudes, controls, and regulations evolved in Ireland, with hard-won changes to a once lax attitude to driving while intoxicated or speeding, vehicles have become increasingly powerful and increasingly numerous on Irish roads.
They also became progressively wider and larger, jostling for the seemingly shrinking space available.
New cars in Europe are getting 1cm wider every two years, on average, according to research by think tank Transport & Environment (T&E).
While larger, sturdier vehicles can protect those within it, they can be deadly to those they hit
The economy and the population have also grown since the 1990s, washing some cohorts with money to buy more and bigger vehicles.
Ireland's recent planning culture — with sprawling suburbs and underpopulated city centres, coupled with a persistent lack of adequate investment in public transport — has left people ever more wedded to, and reliant on, their own vehicles and on using Ireland's roads.
The Crowe Report team has called for gardaí to produce a detailed transformation plan for roads policing within eight weeks to respond to the issues identified. Senior gardaí seem motivated to approach any shortcomings.
