Putting a plan in place for safer roads

CO-ORDINATED APPROACH?Pictured at the launch of the Mayo Road Safety Plan 2013-2020, front, from left: Cllr Annie Mae Reape, Cllr Damien Ryan, Cathaoirleach, Mayo County Council; Inspector   Amanda Gaynor, Castlebar; Noel Gibbons, Mayo Road Safety Officer and Eilish Mulhern, RSA. Back, from left: Ann Flynn, Michael Lyons, Roads Design officer; Eleanor Ryder, Mayo Community Transport; GrΡinne Gallagher, Mayo Community Transport; Paddy Mahon, Mayo County Council; Thelma Birrane, HSE; Paul Dolan, Mayo County Council; Laura Heneghan, An Taisce; Philip Durkin, NRA, Regional Road Safety Engineer. ?Pic: Michael Donnelly

Putting a plan in place for safer roads


Seven year plan launched by County Council

Ciara Galvin

BETWEEN 2003 and 2012, 101 people lost their lives on Mayo roads, while 2,491 people were left injured.
It is these figures that Mayo County Council and other agencies are trying to reduce with its Road Safety Plan 2013 - 2020.
Launched at Lough Lannagh Village, Castlebar last week by Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Damien Ryan, the report sets out a four-pronged approach to reducing road fatalities and injuries on Mayo roads.
At the launch, a prominent member of An Garda SíochΡna spoke of the devastation left behind following fatal road traffic accidents on the county’s roads.
Inspector Mandy Gaynor described attending the scene of the first road traffic fatality of 2014 on January 1 last, and said that if the Road Safety Plan could prevent the loss of one life, or save members of An Garda SíochΡna attending one more of these scenes ‘then it has been worth it’.
Insp Gaynor said she was ‘delighted’ to be working in partnership with other agencies to achieve safer roads.
“A problem shared is a problem halved,” said Insp Gaynor, referring to the partnership approach between Mayo County Council, An Garda Síochana, the HSE, the National Roads Authority and the Road Safety Authority in forming the plan.
Officially launching the plan, the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council took a moment to extend sympathies to the family of the late Padraig O’Dea of Coolnameatogue, Kilmaine, who passed away last week following a traffic accident in London.
“This type of tragedy comes into many communities but only when it comes into yours, do you realise how important road safety is,” said Cllr Ryan.
Cllr Ryan described the plan as ‘ambitious in its targets’ and expressed his admiration for Mayo County Council Road Safety Officer Noel Gibbons for ‘keeping road safety on top of the agenda in the county’.
Ailish Mulherin of the Road Safety Authority said the progress of road safety since the first report in 1998, showed the dedication of agencies in reducing road fatalities and injuries.
Ms Mulherin said the essence of the success of the plan will be reviewing and monitoring the progress of the plan.
“Road Safety is everybody’s responsibility, not just Mayo County Council,” concluded     Mulherin.

The statistics
IN Mayo between the years 2003 and 2012 (inclusively) there were 101 road fatalities recorded, along with 297 serious injuries from road traffic accidents.
From this ten year period, 2005 showed the highest number of fatalities with 14, while 2008 had the highest number of serious injuries with 49. The number of total injuries for the period up to 2012, were 2,491.
According to the Road Safety Authority Collision Statistics, the cost of a fatal collision is €2,706,144, while the cost of a serious injury collision stands at €361, 531.

Aims
THE target of the national road safety plan 2013 to 2020 is to reduce fatalities to 25 per million population by 2020. This means reducing deaths nationally from 162 in 2012 to 124 or fewer in 2020.
According to road safety officer with Mayo County Council Noel Gibbons, the County Mayo Road Safety Plan mirrors the national plan.
The plan sets out a range of goals including developing objectives for the reduction and reduction of road collisions, and to develop strategies to achieve these objectives. A partnership approach between other vested agencies such as An Garda SíochΡna and the HSE has been adopted in order to achieve the objectives.
The plan identifies the primary causes of road collisions, deaths and injuries as inappropriate speed for driving conditions, impaired driving through drugs, alcohol or fatigue and the failure to use seat belts, child safety restraints and unsafe behaviour by, or towards, vulnerable road users.
A key focus in the plan is on high risk road users, which the plan identifies as male drivers/ passengers aged between 17 and 34, pedestrians over the age of 65 and the young and the elderly cyclists and motorcyclists.
Each stakeholder, in partnership with Mayo County Council will undertake initiatives separately.
An Garda SíochΡna’s main initiative will be continued enforcement, carrying out operations in relation to speeding, drink driving, dangerous driving and youth racers. The Health Service Executive will be participating in public awareness campaigns, working in schools through the Social Personal Health Education Programme, while also collecting data relating to road traffic collisions and injuries.

Action Plan
THE Road Safety Plan seeks to promote an integrated approach to road safety through education, engineering, enforcement and evaluation.
Through education, the plan sets out a number of measures in reducing road fatalities including establishing driving programmes to improve driving standards and using social media to reach wider audiences.
Measures to be undertaken through engineering include identifying and remedying hazardous locations on the roads network and maintaining the most up-to-date accident database possible.
In terms of enforcement measures the deployment of safety cameras at collision prone sites and the increase of mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints are just some of the points incorporated into the plan.
Cited as one of the most important aspects of the plan is the evaluation of progress. Mayo County Council will be the lead agency behind the evaluation process which will involve a complete mid-term review of the plan among all agencies, a post-plan review and a quarterly monitoring report.