Labour calls for monthly reporting of road traffic collisions
In advance of the Halloween weekend, Labour transport spokesperson Duncan Smith has called on Government to publish data on road traffic collisions on a monthly basis.
Deputy Smith said:
“2023 has been a very dark year on our roads with 154 lives lost on our roads. Right now, the Road Safety Authority is mandated to produce data on the number of deaths on our roads, but not the number of collisions.
“The RSA published this data up to 2016 before stopping, seemingly for no reason at all.
“Minister Ryan claims the reason this data is no longer produced is due to the GDPR. This is a cop out. It is absolutely in the public interest to have this information available.
“Having data on collisions could be transformative for transport policy. It would inform all drivers of particular blackspots for accidents on our roads.
“As Government looks to reduce the speed limits on roads, data on collisions would be invaluable to ensure an evidence based approach on this move.
“This Halloween weekend, all drivers must reduce their speed. 2023 has been an awful year on our roads.
“Having real time information about serious incidents and accident blackspots would be vital to try and tackle particularly dangerous areas.
“Let’s move away from anecdotes and have an evidence based approach to transport policy in Ireland.”