# 70

Posted: 13/11/2007 19:09

Drivers are to blame. mainly young boy racers who feel invincible.

# 69

Posted: 01/06/2007 13:15

In addition to the comments about the state of the roads, alchohol etc...lets not forget that there are a whole load of provisional drivers coming out, and driving without ever having done any formal practical instruction.
They are young, the males in particular are cocky (weren't we all) and I find the worst offenders are those brought up 'on the farm' who think that just because they can drive the tractor or the jeep around the farm, they can therefore drive safely on our roads.
I have met 3 such people today, having just done their provisional theory test.
Therein lies the crux- it is a THEORY test. Get some lessons guys. It won't stop you getting killed or killing others, but it might make you a bit more aware that the road is a dangerous place.

# 68

Posted: 28/03/2007 09:05

Wrong Tom. There is indeed a fast lane on a motorway. A motorway is three lane. A dual-carriage way has two lanes, one of which is an overtaking lane.

# 67

Posted: 27/03/2007 14:33

I voted drivers because I think half the problem is drink-driving.Drivers need to have control when driving and they loose their ability to control a vehiclde when under the influence of alcohol.The other half is speed and carelessness. I see it all the time and I think no wonder there are so many people being killed on Irish roads.I do think though that there is a huge need for strict rules in relation to drivers age and training/ education about driving.Boy racers think they know all about driving but really they do not know how quick an accident can happen when travelling at such speed.

# 66

Posted: 30/01/2007 23:05

speeding is the biggest factor

# 65

Posted: 28/08/2006 10:25

It is definitely the fault of drivers. Yes, the government and Gardai have a part to play but ultimately it is the drivers fault if an accident occurs. There are a huge number of people in this country who do not know the rules and laws of the road. Many people on this site berating people do not know simple basic facts such as - there is no fast lane on a motorway. The right hand lane is the overtaking lane. You drive in the left lane until you are going to overtake. Once the car is overtaken, you move back into the lefthand lane as soon as it is safe to do so. Common courtesy o0n the road would also help reduce raod deaths. Its not all one classes responsibility to take ownership of the state of our roads, its all of us. Stop blaming others and look to your own behaviour. Educate yourself on the rules of the road. If you think you already know them, you are a danger on the roads. Read the book again and I'm sure you will find something new or that you have forgotten or do not rigidly adhere to.

# 64

Posted: 24/08/2006 14:54

I would be interested to see a breakdown of exact ages of people who are killed on the roads, and again of those who cause accidents. Its not all young people, there is alot of elderly drivers etc who should'nt be on the road....

# 63

Posted: 09/08/2006 12:36

4 x 4 drivers who cant drive. Little boy racers. Those who got their licence under the amnesty.
L plate drivers who drive ordinary cars drive better than any of this lot.

# 62

Posted: 07/08/2006 20:50

Tailgaters, drivers in a rush to get to nowhere. Penalty points system is useless here, the gardai arent much better in enforcing the laws either !! The law is there to obide to on the roads, not ignore !.

# 61

Posted: 05/08/2006 01:45

". I often drive on the dual carraigeway motorway and if it is anytime around 6pm, I have drivers tailgating even if I go at the max. speed permissable"

While tailgating is wrong, people should remember the rule on motorways and duel carriageways is to drive on the left, and overtake on the right. This applies no matter what speed other traffic is travelling. In other words, it is an overtaking lane, not a "fast lane" as per ROTR

# 60

Posted: 30/07/2006 01:35

from the messages posted , it seems to me that no one has taken into account the state of the roads, in all areas of the country, which are a disaster , the worst countries in the world , have better roads than ireland, boreens, side roads, cracks with grass growing in the middle of them, bad surfaces, no camber whatsoever, badly signposted, no markings, utter chaos, thats, modern IRELAND. PURE CRAP ROADS, not BAD DRIVERS, only the government wants to blame THESE.

# 59

Posted: 28/07/2006 22:27

Drivers!

# 58

Posted: 28/07/2006 21:34

Drivers are clearly the main culprits for road deaths, the greatest factor causing these deaths is the speeding and overtaking when it is not safe to do so. The wrecks of vehicles shown in the papers in the aftermat of accidents can only have been caused by excessive speeding.This also applies to single vehicle accidents occurring in the early hours of the morning and the running down of innocent pedestrians. Truckers are also causing many of the deaths, speeding from construction sites to dumps etc. They continually speed up behind car drivers endeavouring to get them to go faster than the speed limits and closer than the new regulations permit.
The Gardai have at last started to concentrate on speeding & driving offences instead of checking road tax & insurance, which could be done by traffic wardens when vehicles are parked on the streets.
Perhaps the publishing of the results of traffic acciidentinvestigations by category on a monthly basis might bring people to their senses.

# 57

Posted: 28/07/2006 18:51

I dont think its fair to blame young drivers or speeding. When we learn how to drive we are taught to start the car move stop go around corners and badly how to park. we have very bad weather in this country but yet no1 is shown what to do if you get a skid or the dangers. In some parts of the world you cant drive on your own untill you have 500 hours teaching done. Also I think people who drive to slow are are much to blame if your on a bad road people get frustrated and take chances. Most crashed happen at night time or early in the morning has anyone taught that maybe its just the bad roads with no lights and people just getting tired and make stupid mistakes because once again we havent had enough experience????????

# 56

Posted: 28/07/2006 15:01

There are a number of factors to blame. Bad driving is one and it isn't always learner drivers who are at fault here. Our smaller roads aren't designed for charging bull elephant SUVS which all seem to be driven at the maximum speed limit. The state of our roads doesn't help, potholes, poor surfacing and unclear marking all make our roads a death trap. There were always a number of irresponsible younger drivers but they were less likely to kill themselves when cars were smaller and less powerful, and roads weren't as crowded. I know a few men today who often ended up in the ditch driving home from the local rugby club in the 1980s, it's likely that they would not survive the same journey nowadays. The Gardai need to make their presence felt and have absolutely zero tolerance to drink driving or using mobile phones while driving.

# 55

Posted: 28/07/2006 14:35

A combinaiton of carelessness/lack of awareness, speed (combined with alcohol in soemcases) and bad roads but no driving test includes driving in poor conditions or on bad roads.

# 54

Posted: 25/07/2006 00:18

All talk and no action, blame the drink all the time, it is time some one woke up anymore and see whats happening. The youth will not drink and drive BUT they think its fine to take drugs and drive. Its time to wake up and start to do random checks for drugs before there's any more innocent people killed on our roads.

# 53

Posted: 22/07/2006 20:51

Bad driving is the obvious cause of almost all accidents. Not speed per se, or even drink. The driving test should be much more extensive. It should include speed driving, motorways, roundabouts, driving in the rain, in the dark etc. There should be a section that deals with braking under emergency conditions, how to control a skid etc. The only problems that can't be cured by instruction are personality type. As in road-rage or adolescence. There's no hope for either in my opinion!

# 52

Posted: 21/07/2006 22:32

I do not think all the blame should be put on the young drivers.I drive alot every day and come across the usual bit of road rage but I have never witnessed anything like the carry on from drivers who think the Learner driver should not be given a chance and are there to be verbally abused for maybe letting the car cut out.My daughter is learning at the moment and a guy left his car to bang on the window to stress how much of a hurry he was in.Were all these people BORN able to drive!!Its the likes fo him causes accidents.

# 51

Posted: 21/07/2006 10:20

Ultimately the government are responsible because they are letting people get away with it. Drivers are accountable, but the Government is responsibile.

# 50

Posted: 20/07/2006 16:36

This question is slanted so that one answer is much more obvious than the others. Obviously drivers are to blame in the direct sense of who causes each accident, but that is not the same as asking who is to blame for creating the climate in which drivers have the accidents. In that sense, lack of commitment by government must be the culprit. There are far too few working cameras. Also, speed limiters should be fixed to cars by law. These are measures which the government should have carried out but have not.

# 49

Posted: 20/07/2006 15:27

I voted drivers because the most immediate thing that can be done to reduce accidents and deaths is slow down and stop drink/drug driving. To encourage drivers to do just that police enforcement must be much, much tougher. Hit people where it hurts most - pocket and driving licences. Give the Garda the means and the powers to do the job. Next get L-drivers off the road except with qualified instructors by elimininating the test backlog and reforming the training method. It is unbelieveable in Ireland that no professional training is required to do the driving test and that bad habits of the father/mother/brother are passed onto young drivers. Get strict with foreign registered cars - insurance issues, re-registration in Ireland and where necessary re-evaluation of the driver's training skills.(Many of the new EU countries have even more horrific accident statistics than Ireland).And continue to augment the road system to European Standards. I think tackling all these problems will help reduce Ireland's road carnage rate. The UK has 56 deaths per 1 million population, Ireland 98 (Latvia a staggering 220)* Our aim has to be 0 and even if this is unrealistic a life saved is a life saved and it could be yours or mine. *(2004 EU see http://ec.europa.eu/transport/care/statistics/series/fatal1991_rate/index_en.htm)

# 48

Posted: 20/07/2006 12:54

I do think that most accidents are caused by drivers but I do think that the road safey autho. have to take some of the blame. Some of the speed limits are wrong if a road is built as a motor way why do they keep changing the speeds on it (M50) also if there where more traffic police to catch the drivers that drive in the fast land at 60klm. and hold up the traffic people pass in inside lane. Do all cars sold in Ireland not have indicators or are they an extra also the driving skills of the irish are terrible they cannot park unless it is big enough for a bus even then there is usually a yellow line or no parking and why when at church why are the laws of the road ignored yellow lines and bus lanes means no parking i thought?

# 47

Posted: 20/07/2006 12:19

As a daily road user, on an R route to work every day, time and time again, I come accross drivers of articulated trucks, driving while using mobile phones! This is a constant problem. On the other hand, you have people driving these big so called 4x4's or as I like to call them, TRACTORS, and they dont know how to drive them properly! One of the problems is that we have the souped up, go faster cars, which are only suitable for the motorways and dual carriageways but certainly not on 60% of our roads and drivers should realise this! The car might go faster but the road cannot take it! We are still a third world country when it comes to a lot of our infrastructure and the ineptitude of this Government leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to this problem! My message, is PLEASE SlOW DOWN and take the responsibility yourself! If I am tailgated or I feel threatended by another driver I will ALWAYS ring the lo-call traffic watch. And I have been driving for 30 years, I drive 80km on the roads that require it and I drive 120km on the motorways. More people should keep ringing this number if they feel threatened on the road and maybe this will get the Gardai to take notice.

# 46

Posted: 20/07/2006 12:16

impatience - ego/selfishness - indifference to others needs and abilities on the roads and inflated notion of own ability - needing to be at the top of the queue - casual attitude and indifference to being in control of a lethal weapon, the car - young drivers get blamed for a lot but why are they out on the roads without having passed their test? - no one should be on the road without an instructor if they haven't passed their test, no excuse is acceptable for this - safe driving is a skill to be learned and tested - self teaching through survival or otherwise is how we permit our young people learn to drive and gain experience - some make it, far too many don't and we as a society should protect our young drivers by insisting on a period of apprentiship the results of which must be tested and passed before they move to the next stage of gaining experience - society is failing the young driver in the laissez-faire attitude to learning to drive -

# 45

Posted: 20/07/2006 12:10

Animals, humans included need to feel a little fear to respond to safety issues. Youths bravado and lack of experience leads to risk taking unless there is fear of being caught and punished. Untill the Gardai start policing properly and Judges back them up by enforcing the law instead of allowing smartass layers make a mockery of it on points of law, nothing will change. There are enough laws already but the judicery prevent them being enforced and have led to the anarchy we have generally and the complete demoralisation of the Gardai because people caught red handed are too often let off on legal tecnicalities in court or never brought to court as tecnicalities would have the case thrown out. Sort out the courts and the rest will fall in to place.

# 44

Posted: 20/07/2006 07:50

Living here in Australia and not haven driven in Ireland for a number of years until last year, I am concerned about the lack of driving skills particularly in the areas of speed, courtesy for other drivers, tail-gating, observation of road signs and the total lack of indicator use. Drivers take responsibility for your actions and stop passing the 'buck'.

---

HooRoo

# 43

Posted: 20/07/2006 01:39

The road deaths will continue until all drivers realise what they are doing when they do not take sufficient care on the roads. I often drive on the dual carraigeway motorway and if it is anytime around 6pm, I have drivers tailgating even if I go at the max. speed permissable. It is only when tragedy comes close to these people that they might sit up and think of the safety of others and get some manners in the process.
I frequently see people on mobile phones while driving when on secondary roads. We all should take more care and go a little more slowly if possible even just to counteract the carelessness and bravado on the road.

# 42

Posted: 20/07/2006 01:24

(1) Too many drivers don't realise or ignore the danger of tail-gating at 120kph.
(2) Why don't parents/schools/Gardaí teach children road discipline? In my estate I see tiny tots to teenagers racing full tilt on bikes, trikes and scooters, rounding corners on the wrong side of the road. It won't be too long until/if those wee ones grow up and get in the driving seat of a car and then…Some of them have already.

# 41

Posted: 20/07/2006 00:08

Drivers are mostly responsible for road traffic accidents, especially those drivers who think the road is for them, it is very difficult to abide by the rules of the road i.e speed limits, for example dirving in the 50km limit there are always drivers on my tail and flashing lights to get a move on, likewise on the motorway & dual carraigeway some drivers pay no attention to the speed limits whatsoever - I, myself, do believe that foreign drivers are a danger ++ on the roads. I also think Lorry Drivers are bullies on the road, and until this situation is taken in hand and people stand up to this kind of behaviour on the roads, unfortunately lives will be lost. Shame on us

# 40

Posted: 19/07/2006 23:21

Speed and the stupidity of many drivers are responsible for many road traffic accidents on Irish roads. People not obeying the law and the basic rules of the road are rife every day believe me I know I've seen it almost every other day. Pure lack of manners to other road users again and again. Breaking lights and stop signs, not using the rules of the roundabout etc etc I could go on and on.....

# 39

Posted: 19/07/2006 23:12

I agree with Brian, it is not only the young that are a danger on the roads. Take a few of the geriatric drivers off and put more Gardai on the country roads where most of the fatalities occur and there might be a reduction in deaths. How about locking all pub carparks at closing time and breathalising all the owners of the cars as they return after a night of 'not really drinking'. Too many lives are lost because of 'just a pint'or 'one for the road'.

# 38

Posted: 19/07/2006 22:43

I see that some people blame the poor condition of our roads. That can't be to blame. On bad roads you take the appropriate action and drive at a speed that is suitable to the condition of the road. I've driven on back roads in Scotland which are similar to ours and the consideration shown by other drivers is amazing. They pull in to leave others pass and give way more easily. Why can't we have consideration for each other here at home. The attitude and bad manners by some drivers is terrible here on our roads.

# 37

Posted: 19/07/2006 22:19

I believe that it is mainly the fault of the drivers; however, it is not solely young drivers who are to blame as some people suggest. The idea of putting 'speed control' devices on the cars of young drivers is not a suitable suggestion- do advocates of this idea seriously believe that once a person reaches a particular age - say, 25- they will necessarily be more careful? As some contributors to this discussion have pointed out, there are countless numbers of dangerous drivers over the age of 25! One often sees supposedly 'mature' drivers who allow their young children to stand up in the car, or climb into the front seat- not a seat-belt in sight. Such stupidity and irresponsibility is a string of accidents waiting to happen. I have also noticed a growing 'intolerance' of Traffic Lights- where drivers speed up rather than slow down when the amber light shows- as a pedestrian I know that this law-breaking is not just committed by young drivers. Such drivers not only endanger their lives and the lives of other drivers, but the lives of pedestrians- all for the sake of a few seconds at a red light! Apart from the drivers, I believe there must be a review of the recently introduced speed limits- 80Km/H on a windy country lane is too much and unacceptable. It seems to me that drivers themselves can do the most to cut road deaths, but the 'powers that be' must make sure that at all times there are adequate resources to implement road safety measures and to enforce the law appropriately.

# 36

Posted: 19/07/2006 22:04

Why can't the government follow the example of others and learn from them.

# 35

Posted: 19/07/2006 21:32

This topic really irritates me. I believe it gets far more attention than it deserves. For as long as I can remember c.400+ people die on Irish roads each year. Apart from a brief drop with the introduction of penalty points as drivers became more aware of their bad habits, it has, as should be expected, returned to its long term level, which by international standards is not too bad at all. Why then do we have so much media hype and headline? Are they having slow news days? Another road death is hardly news, it's part and parcel of everyday life since the introduction of the motor car to our lives. I believe it is a risk that we have all accepted, if your number is up, it's up. The media should be more respectful of the mourning families need for privacy and solemnity in their moment of grief. One last point. Speed does not kill as we are led to believe by the morons who would nanny us into our graves. Bad and careless driving is usually at fault. Cars travel at all levels of different speeds. I would hazard a guess that it is dangerous overtaking manouvres, poor road conditions and careless driving that cause the bulk of accidents - speed is relative.

# 34

Posted: 19/07/2006 20:22

Only clear laws and a clear penalty, which drivers know will be enforced will work. The government is to blame for pretending that we just need more campaigns to persuade drivers to drive more safely. I suggest:
No driving if any alcohol at all
No driving if on drugs eg cannabis.
Random checks to detect the above and severe penalties if caught.
Seat belts for all in the car must be worn, again severe penalties if not.
That would be a start!
The mentality of drivers who drink and drive or use drugs is such that only the prospect of being caught and sent to prison or the car confiscated will have any effect. It is not only teenagers who would have to obey the law and suffer the penalties if they break it. Everyone - including the middle classes and the TDs would have to face the full rigour of the law. Nothing else is going to work and the government would earn our admiration if it adopted this policy. Does anyone believe that it would do this?

# 33

Posted: 19/07/2006 18:52

A friend of mine who drives for a living (and who once shared a motor racing rostrum with the late great Arton Senna) has given 3 interconnected reasons why there are so many accidents. While some are more important than others, the problems arise when 2 or more of them interact.

1: The poor condition of Irish roads where pot holes at the verge force people to drive too close to the centre.
2: Slow drivers (being forced into the middle of the roads .. see above).
3: Impatient unthinking (mostly young) drivers who get fed up behind the people mentioned above and try to overtake many cars at a time on double white lines.

He also mentioned the stupid practice of guards being assigned to put speed checks on reasonably safe roads.

It would cost many millions to widen all the roads, but maybe no so much if we could put in small lay-bys every few miles and educate slower drivers to pull in and let faster people pass them. We do this in footpaths and shop escalators, so there is no real reason why we could not also adopt this policy on the roads.

# 32

Posted: 19/07/2006 18:41

I don't think penalty points will stop road deaths, it will just irritate good road users and bring in more money for the government, we need more Gardi on the roads at night and st problem spots.
More penalies for drinking and driving, speeding. More education for the young and an intrim driving period where young people who do not drive without due care will not get a full licence until they have a period of being careful drivers

# 31

Posted: 19/07/2006 17:51

I feel if the Government would cut down on their own "perks", i.e. State Cars, colossal expenses etc. We might be in a position to recruit more Gardai to patrol the roads of our Country and ensure safety for everyone. Remember the Gardai cannot be everywhere.....