Editorial: Lack of enforcement on our roads must be dealt with by ministers

So it was a little surprising to hear Jack Chambers, who has cabinet responsibility for road safety, pivot on the recent spike in road deaths in Ireland, saying: “A lot of it is personal responsibility.”

He added: “Intoxicated driving; people drinking or drug driving is a significant issue, and particularly drunk driving is on an upward trend and the gardaí flag that as a very serious issue.”

Unfortunately, Mr Chambers is probably correct on all these points. Where he comes unstuck is the question of what the Government is doing about it. If judgments are to be made, ministers need to take the whole story into account. The problems he refers to are all within the purview of the gardaí.

In an interview with Mr Chambers and Road Safety Authority (RSA) chairwoman Liz O’Donnell on RTÉ, both admitted they had never been breathalysed while driving. Mr Chambers struggled to recall the last time he was stopped at a checkpoint. And not for the first time, the minister admitted enforcement levels by gardaí were not where they needed to be.

He went as far as to say there was “a collapse in ­enforcement over a number of years”.

So whose fault is this? This week, members of the RSA appeared before the Oireachtas Transport Committee. They explained how speeding, alcohol and drug use before driving, and mobile-phone usage were “killer behaviours” behind many fatal crashes.

RSA chief executive Sam Waide said research clearly shows greater levels of high-visibility enforcement will reduce dangerous driving.

So far this year, 69 people have died on Irish roads and more than 300 people have been seriously injured in crashes.

The committee also heard how the number of people killed on our roads on average every month continues to rise, from 15 last year to 19 this year.

Once again, if enforcement is such a critical factor in ending the litany of heartbreaking road deaths, why is the Government not prioritising it?

If the garda presence is not where it needs to be, what is being done to improve it?

Where once we had milestones, there is now ­scarcely a road in the country without a memorial left by a devastated family to a lost loved one. Those in high office need to be keenly aware of the dangers of pointing fingers where you haven’t lent a hand.

Mr Chambers has a point in saying people’s awareness of the safety of other road users has a role to play.

But, as the instrument of the people, so too has the Government.

If Mr Chambers says enforcement is a major issue, so too is re-enforcement. We have had ample eloquent exhortations – what we need now is executive action.

It is the Government’s duty to make sure that sufficient numbers of gardaí are on hand to insist on compliance through compulsion.