by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
A LOCAL county councillor said reckless and
dangerous drivers are continuing to pose a
significant threat on Inishowen roads.
Cllr. Padraig MacLochlainn is calling for more
Gardai to be deployed here in the early hours of the
morning every weekend after stark new statistics
revealed that serious road accidents in Donegal are
22 times more likely to occur between 3 and 4am on a
Saturday or Sunday.
The new figures, contained in a draft version of the
Donegal Road Safety Plan, also show that the vast
majority of fatal collisions here involve young male
drivers from the ages of 17 to 25.
Speaking ahead of the publication of the new plan,
Cllr. MacLochlainn said Gardai must concentrate
their efforts on those most likely to cause
fatalities on the roads.
“The bulk of Garda resources are deployed during the
day but the vast majority of incidents of reckless
driving leading to injuries and fatalities happen at
night. Due to severe cutbacks in the force, there
are not enough members of the Gardai dealing with
enforcement here but we don’t want to see the
Traffic Corps continually catching drivers for doing
40mph in a 30 zone,” he said.
“Gardai need to focus their energy on those who are
causing fatalities and it is a logical step to
re-deploy more members of the force during the early
hours of weekend mornings when serious accidents are
most likely to occur. If there is a clear and
present danger to human life then we need to use
every possible resource available to remove it.”
Despite an ongoing road safety campaign and a number
of high-profile fatal accidents, Cllr. MacLochalinn
said a minority of drivers continue to be reckless
on our roads.
“We’ve all heard the messages of condolence
following tragic accidents. We’ve done the ads on TV
and carried out extensive education programmes in
schools but the message is not getting through to a
hardcore group of people, who continue to pose a
threat to life,” he said.
“There is no excuse for these motorists to continue
to drive dangerously and put people’s lives at risk.
We need to ensure that the law is enforced and that
they are brought before the courts and given stiff
sentences.” |
