The level of non-compliance on Ireland’s roads is “off the scale”, according to the chair of the Road Safety Authority, who said people caught breaking the rules of the road should face more severe penalties.
Liz O’Donnell also called for average speed cameras to be installed as quickly as possible.
She said observational studies have shown high levels of non-compliance in terms of speeding, mobile phone use and drink driving.
Since the start of the year, 61 people have died on Irish roads, compared to 48 for the same period in 2023.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Ms O’Donnell said that “for the last two years, since Covid, the level of non-compliance is just off the scale”.
People are not afraid of being caught so they are more willing to engage in dangerous behaviours, she said.
“Over Easter alone, there were over 2,600 people detected for speeding. People are routinely speeding now,” she added.
Ms O’Donnell acknowledged that speed cameras are expensive, but said ‘this is nothing compared to the scale of deaths on Irish roads.”
Currently there are just two average speed cameras for 200,000 kilometres of road, she said, but 12 sites have been identified.
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She said an increased core number of gardaí must also be assigned to road policing in order to tackle the rising toll of road deaths.
She said new Taoiseach Simon Harris has received a detailed briefing and it should be clear to him that the big gap, the big deficit’ is enforcement.
Ms O’Donnell said she would take issue with criticism of the RSA made by road advocacy groups.
This is an all of government strategy and there is only so much we can do, she said.
She added that the RSA budget is not fit for purpose and said she would call on the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice to put the resources needed into enforcement.
Enforcement is the missing link, she said, adding that she believed there would be transformative results if necessary changes were implemented this year.
