The Irish Government has rolled out a new strategy that will see an increased use of 'safety cameras' (speed cameras to you and I) across the country.
The new strategy is to be implemented by both Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the National Transport Authority (NTA), with TII taking the responsibility for installing and running fixed speed and average speed cameras, while NTA looks after urban traffic management offences.
Is there anything actually new about this?
Not really - it's basically what we had before, but more of it and with a return to fixed cameras as an adjunct to the mobile 'Gatso Vans' which are wearily most commonly seen on motorways. Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, Seán Canney, said: "The deployment of safety cameras across the road network has been the primary responsibility of An Garda Siochána. The new approach, as set out in the Strategy will ensure greater collaboration between key road safety stakeholders including An Garda Síochána, TII and the NTA and will build on the relationships already in place. We believe this will provide an effective structure through which we can make the most progress on the deployment of road safety camera systems in the near-term. I am confident that this approach will lead to positive road safety outcomes through changing driver behaviours and through enhancing enforcement of road traffic offences into the future.”
What about red light cameras?
Red light cameras, which were supposed to be rolled out last year as a way of preventing urban drivers from whizzing across junctions after the lights have turned green, seem to be stuck in limbo, although this new plan may or may not finally activate such cameras. Previous plans for the NTA to start using such cameras were shelved last year, for no immediately apparent reason, and it's unclear if this new strategy will see their implementation. Previously, in response to a question in the Dail, Canney had said that he expects the new camera plan "to provide the framework for increased deployment of cameras across the network, in both urban and rural locations, to assist with the enforcement of a wide range of road traffic offences.”
Anything else to know?
Only that the three agencies involved - TII, NTA, and the Gardai - will all coordinate around the new plan, with TII and NTA providing the detections, and the Gardai taking care of enforcement and penalty point notices. The mobile Gatso vans will continue as before. As before, the focus remains almost entirely on speed, rather than on driving skill or, y'know, improving road safety and design.