A new ten-year Government road safety strategy has been launched in Ireland – the first step to “Vision Zero”.
The new plan aims to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50 percent over the next ten years.
Initiatives set out in the strategy include:
- Explore the potential of an online portal for road users to upload footage of road traffic offences.
- Review penalties for serious road traffic like impaired driving, speeding, mobile phone use, non-wearing of seat belts and carrying unrestrained children in a vehicle.
- Expand speed management measures using periodic speed limits at schools, vehicle activated signs and average speed cameras.
- Review the mobile safety camera system to maximise its effectiveness in detecting road traffic offences.
“This Road Safety Strategy sets out the steps we need to take to reduce deaths and serious injuries by half over the next decade and provides the metrics that will measure our progress,” said Minister for State in the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, T.D.
“However, the core of the strategy is not about words or numbers on a page, but about saving lives and preventing injuries. It is about people. This strategy is for all those who use our roads, and who have the right to do so safely.”
The strategy is the first step in achieving the 2020 Programme for Government commitment of bringing Ireland to “Vision Zero” – to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by the year 2050.
