Viewpoint: Drive better towards zero

The horrific crash near Athy which claimed the lives of four young women has starkly headlined that at the beginning of 2015 we still haven't got fully to grips with minimising road fatalities, writes Brian Byrne, though in fairness a lot has been achieved.

Of course, until the forensic examination of that particular tragedy is completed, we don't know the cause. But in general road safety terms, we have a lot to consider. And we should be doing that. All the time.

In 2014 there were 196 deaths due to road collision incidents, according to a provisional report from the Road Safety Authority. That's six more than in 2013. And while we have come a long way from the 1997 days when almost 500 people lost their lives on our roads, the fact that we seem to be on an upswing again is a concern.

Between 2005 and 2012, for a variety of reasons, there was a continuing and dramatic drop in road collision fatalities. More stringent regulation, a better quality main roads network, a socially engineered shift of attitude to drink driving, and a generally safer modern car parc all played their part. Maybe it could also be argued that a perceptible reduction in actual driving, prompted by the recession, had an input. But the numbers of cars on our roads are now back up to pre-Celtic Tiger levels.

There's probably no need to be too alarmist about the current upshift trend. A similar one in 2004 didn't last, and a look at the graphical representation of 2012-2014 shows a flattening upward curve. Also, at the historically low level we have been achieving, it need only take one multi-fatal incident to massively effect the position in percentage terms. But every death is one too many.

Any of us who use the roads don't need statistics to see that there's still an awful lot of potential for a catastrophe. We see it every day, every kilometre travelled. Simple bad driving. Careless decisions. Crazy overtaking. Lack of indication. A ridiculous number of people using their phones as they drive, particularly visible as they negotiate cross roads.

In urban areas I have been especially struck by the high numbers of people who run red lights. To the point that I'll never take it for granted that I can proceed safely on a green. And at a time when pedestrians are an increasing share of the fatalities, it's scary how many of them are oblivious to what's going on around them, constantly plugged in to music devices. We're also not good at waiting for pedestrian green lights at crossings.

Each of us who drives in 2015 continues to have a responsibility to do so carefully and with a constant concentration on what we're doing. Pedestrians and cyclists have an equal responsibility. But it's not all down to us.

Any of us can probably bring to mind immediately at least three or four places on our local roads which are 'black spots', even though not designated as such. Road engineering often plays a significant role in fatal or injury causing collisions. At local level, authorities need to make basic obvious decisions to provide safer roads. And they should listen to the local people who live and drive there — far too often, poor decisions are made because, 'we're engineers, we know best'.

Sweden, thanks to a Vision Zero national programme begun in 1997, has the lowest road deaths rate in Europe, if not the world. Low urban speed-limits, pedestrian zones and barriers that separate cars from bikes and oncoming traffic have helped. Building 1,500 kilometres of '2+1' roads — where each lane of traffic takes turns to use a middle lane for overtaking — is reckoned to have saved around 145 lives over the first decade of Vision Zero. And 12,600 safer crossings, including pedestrian bridges and zebra-stripes with flashing lights and protected with speed-bumps, are estimated to have halved the number of pedestrian deaths over the past five years.

We need to have a holistic road safety vision of our own, where all the people and organisations which can affect road safety work together rather than as independent entities. But from our point of view as drivers, the immediate thing we can do is make a conscious decision to have our own individual 'Vision Zero' for 2015. Allow zero distraction. Zero breaking the speed limits, and zero crashing of red lights. Zero use of the mobile phone while driving. Let's have zero lack of concentration.

It'll all help to try and bring closer to zero the numbers of fatalities and injuries we'll be counting at the end of this new year.

As well as being editor of 'A Kilcullen Diary', Brian Byrne is co-publisher of 'Irish Car+Travel' magazine, and motoring correspondent for 'The Western People', 'The Southern Star', the Carlow 'Nationalist' group, and 'Decision' magazine.