Delays in the implementation of the Road Safety Strategy could be resolved if the Taoiseach adopted the issue as a priority, the chairman of the National Safety Council has claimed.
Eddie Shaw said road safety was probably not among Bertie Ahern's top 10 things to do. "I honestly don't feel he has made it a priority. Mr Ahern has been heavily involved in the Peace Process, which would be hard to fault, but there is no doubt that, if he decided to put road safety on his agenda, it would facilitate the structural and management changes required."
Shaw remained "extremely frustrated with the delays hampering delivery of road safety policy. Why is it taking so long? Because there is no collective Government will to do this."
The Taoiseach's support would see obstacles overcome, he said. "Let's look at successful projects - the IFSC, Temple Bar or the fight against foot and mouth disease. I would argue they were successful primarily because the Taoiseach of the day decided they were going to be done.
"His instruction has such weight that it carries through all delays and forces decisions across the structures, across the budgets."
Shaw contrasted the Taoiseach's approach with that of French president Jacques Chirac and state premiers in Australia. "In France, president Chirac said he was making road safety one of his top five priorities. In three years he completely changed the trend of road fatalities, through legislation and enforcement activities nobody ever thought would be introduced. He absolutely hammered speeding and drink driving."
A similar leading role was played by Steve Bracks, premier of Victoria, when road deaths in the state went up by 12 per cent. "Within six weeks, led by the premier, the health minister, the justice minister and the commissioner of the police came up with five measures which were immediately implemented. But it was led by the premier."
Shaw's criticisms come as the implementation of random breath testing remains mired in constitutional difficulties and the introduction of the remaining 66 penalty points offences are delayed by technology and resource issues.
He cited the handling of the impediments facing the proposed random breath testing legislation as evidence of a lack of management expertise at political level.
"We have been struggling with this issue for the past four years and we still have no legislation. The difficulties come down to the drafting of a piece of legislation that will be constitutional."
He said rather than spending another four years trying to draft the legislation, the Government and the gardaí should concentrate on existing legislation and see how its effectiveness can be maximised by changing the approach of the Road Traffic Corps.
"Bluntly, this means much more aggressive, intensive enforcement activities in highly visible numbers at particular times and places where we know drink driving is most prevalent."
He also questioned whether the full power of available legislation was being used. "I'm not sure as to the extent to which gardaí are using the 2002 Road Traffic Act? As I understand it, almost all drink-related driving offences still appear in court under the 1961 Road Traffic Act."
A spokesman for the Garda National Traffic Bureau said both pieces of legislation were being used simultaneously, particularly since legal challenges to the breathalyser had been defeated. While unable to provide details of the number of drink driving interventions, he said there had been 900 more drink driving arrests during the first half of this year compared with 2004.
However, Shaw said more stringent measures needed to be taken. "What we need to do is to hammer the recidivist habitual drink driver. Drink driving is an example of a chronic alcohol problem in this country. It means a certain proportion of our drivers are alcoholics.
"We need to look at linking enforcement on drink driving with some sort of recovery programme. Enforcement is needed to deal with casual drink drivers and also, in effect, take alcoholic drivers off the road."
This, he said, was an area where political will was lacking. "It's highly politically sensitive and is most sensitive when, as at the moment, we are in the run-up to a General Election.
"People remember that the minister who introduced the first drink driving alcohol limit lost his seat in the next election."
