Safe Speed Forums

Speeding a factor in 11,000 EU road deaths
Friday, June 4th, 2010

Experts from Ireland, the UK, Sweden and Belgium joined almost 200 delegates at the Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) third international conference on road safety at Dublin Castle last Monday 31st May.

The theme of Monday’s conference was speeding as the RSA, An Garda Síochána and other stakeholders work towards the roll-out of the safety camera network later this year. Research presented by the RSA at the conference will show that speeding was directly responsible for 80 deaths on Irish roads last year. Furthermore, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said it could be responsible for as many as 11,000 deaths in the EU every year. According to the RSA, reducing speed by just 5% could save almost 50 lives and prevent up to 100 serious injuries on Irish roads every year.

Speaking about the conference, Mr Noel Dempsey T.D., Minister for Transport, said: “This conference is primarily about speed and its influence on the safety of our roads network. It’s a proven fact that speed has a direct relationship with collision severity. The higher the speed, the greater the likelihood of death or serious injury in a collision. We should never lose sight of the reasons why we continue to invest our time, energy and money into road safety. We want to reduce needless suffering on families across the country and it is this objective that really underpins our own road safety strategies.”

Minister Dempsey concluded by saying: “I’d like to pay tribute to the role the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána has played in making our roads safer. It is no exaggeration to say that many people are alive today that would not be with us if it wasn’t for the various measures put in place by the RSA and An Garda Síochána and their absolute commitment to the objective of “Working to Save Lives”.

The RSA research presented at the conference highlighted the significant role speed plays in deaths and serious injuries. In addition to being directly responsible for one third of road deaths every year (80 deaths in 2009), it is also a factor in the remaining 160 deaths, 1000 serious injuries and anything up to 7,000 minor injuries. The research also revealed that reducing speed by just 5% could save up to 50 lives every year.

Noel Brett, Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) said it was important to remind people of the risks associated with excessive or inappropriate speeding: “We all know that driving too fast increases your risk of being involved in a serious or fatal collision, yet every year, approximately one third of road deaths are caused by speeding. Last year, 80 people died on our roads because of this killer behaviour and up to 1,000 people are now learning to live with a serious injury.”

“Reducing your speed by just 5% could reduce road deaths by 20% and injuries by 10%. But breaking the speed limit by just 5km/h could mean the difference between life or death for pedestrians, cyclists or unrestrained passengers travelling in the car. Hit by a car at 60km/h, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed. And the faster the speed, the more serious the consequences. Our message today is to make this small change to your behaviour or you may spend a lifetime regretting your decision to speed.”

Superintendent Con O’Donohue, An Garda Síochána, who also spoke at the conference, outlined the upcoming safety camera strategy: “We have seen how effective safety camera networks are in other EU countries at reducing overall speed on the road and protecting road-users. In Ireland, enforcement will be focused on speed enforcement zones on the road network which have a history of speed related death and injury. It’s important to note that the operator will be paid on the basis of the number of hours spent enforcing speed limits and not on the basis of detections. This is about saving lives and preventing injuries, not about catching people.”

The conference also welcomed experts from Ireland, the UK, Sweden and Belgium, including Ms Ellen Townsend, Policy Director at the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) who highlighted the progress made in other EU countries as a result of implementing a safety camera network: “According to our research, speeding could be responsible for as many as 11,000 deaths in the EU every year. However, in countries where a safety camera network has been implemented, deaths and injuries as a result of speeding have dropped significantly.”

“In France, road deaths fell by 30% in the period 2002 to 2005 – safety cameras were responsible for 75% of this reduction. Following the introduction of safety cameras in Spain in 2008, average speeds dropped by up to 4km/h, depending on the type of road. We estimate that more than 2,200 deaths could be prevented in the EU every year if average speeds dropped by just 1km/h on EU roads so we would urge the Irish government to prioritise the roll-out of the network of safety cameras this year.”

Dr Áine Carroll, Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at the National Rehabilitation Hospital also spoke at the conference, providing an overview of the consequences of speeding from a medical perspective: “Over the past five years, 331 people have come to our hospital as a result of road collisions, many of which were caused by speeding. The injuries they sustained ranged from traumatic brain injuries to spinal cord injuries and amputations. Every day, we work with these people to help them learn how to live with these permanent injuries but the reality is that they may never live a normal life again because of their decision to drive dangerously.”

Among those who also spoke at the conference was Mr Matts Belin from the Swedish Transport Administration whose presentation discussed the safety effects of the safety camera system in Sweden. Research into the effectiveness of this system suggests that speed cameras reduce the number of fatalities by 20-30% and the number of people killed or seriously injured by 20%. Professor Stephen Stradling, Professor Emeritus at Edinburgh Napier University presented his findings into the effects and effectiveness of safety cameras in the UK.

“In France, road deaths fell by 30% in the period 2002 to 2005 – safety cameras were responsible for 75% of this reduction. Following the introduction of safety cameras in Spain in 2008, average speeds dropped by up to 4km/h, depending on the type of road. We estimate that more than 2,200 deaths could be prevented in the EU every year if average speeds dropped by just 1km/h on EU roads so we would urge the Irish government to prioritise the roll-out of the network of safety cameras this year.”

I love the way, more and more inapproriate speed (not appropriate for the road, weather and traffic conditions BUT legal) is being lumped in with speeding (driving at over the posted limit).

Is this to make up the one third lie, muddy the waters, due to a lack of understanding of the accident / prosecution data, a cynical ploy or all of the above?