Garda car crashes 2005 – 2018 & Cause

Statistics

25% of the Garda Fleet are involved in road crashes annually, fatalities reduced only as motorways were built, while arresting drivers for drunken driving and issuing drivers with penalty points did not reduce fatalities, as shown in road statistics in Ireland 2001 to 2019 as follows:

27 03 2019: I lodged a complaint with RTE Radio One about the RSA Radio ad which is incorrect in claiming; Essential Driver Training EDT is your path to becoming a safe and socially responsible driver.

• EDT is 8 years in existence and the 58 fatalities recorded in 3 months is 11 more than in 2018.
• At 01 07 2019, the EDT ad is under investigation by the Broadcasting Authority BAI.

2019:  Reducing Speeding in Europe, European Safety Council ETSC PIN Flash Report 36:  The ETSC, founded in 1993, is a Brussels-based independent non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing the numbers of deaths and injuries in transport in Europe and provides an impartial source of expert advice on transport safety matters to the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States.

27 03 2019, on RTE Radio Antonio Avenoso the Executive Director of the ETSC claimed that 2,100 lives could be saved each year if the average speed dropped by only 1 km/h on all roads across the EU and the introduction of Intelligent Speed Assist ISA would cut all road deaths by 20%.

• There is no evidence to support these claims. The maximum speed in the UK is 8 km/h lower than in Ireland, speedometers may be inaccurate by 10% and analogue with a needle pointing to a mark. Speedometers are not tested during a National Car or MOT test and cars are not fitted with breathalysers.

Speed Limit Review Ireland 2013

The Review Group decided to introduce a new 40 km/h speed limit and the RSA engaged TRL to work out the stopping distance for 40 km/h. It was decided the 80 km/h sign should be replaced with a sign without a speed limit number. The new sign means that drivers must use their own judgement but must never exceed 80 km/h in any case.  The Review Group Members were as follows:

Organisation Member Department of Transport Tourism and Sport John McCarthy (Chair), Kieran Baker (Secretary), An Garda Síochána Superintendent Con O’ Donohue, AA Ireland Conor Faughnan Alternate Rebecca Horan Alternate Arwen Foley, National Transport Authority (NTA) John Keyes Alternate Michael Aherne, National Roads Authority (NRA) Paschal Griffin Alternate Anne Mac Dermott, Road Safety Authority (RSA) Michael Brosnan, Michael Rowland, Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) Paul Fox, City and County Managers Association (CCMA) Paul Crowe, (Director of Services, Limerick) John McLaughlin, (Director of Services, Donegal) Kildare National Roads Office (NRO) David O’Grady, Galway County Council Evan Molloy Alternate Uinsinn Finn, but road fatalities continued, as;

• Drivers cannot be trained with dual controls in 12 Essential Driver Training EDT Lessons; cars cannot be stopped in the braking distances outlined by TRL.
• The RSA and Garda Research departments should be capable of calculating stopping distances and rememember that TRL is unable to locate the stopping formula and has provided them with 2 different stopping formulas.

TRL PSNI Policing Authority & Gardai

On retirement or resignation from one employment, Retired UK Police Officers join TRL as Engineers and Researchers. Retired Gardai in Ireland become Road Safety Authority RSA Research Managers and board Members. The Chairman of the office of the Revenue Commissioner becomes Chairperson of the Policing Authority. The National Safety Council NSC Chief Executive Officer CEO becomes the RSA CEO. Deputy Chief Constables of the PSNI became Members of the  Policing Authority.  A Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI who used the incorrect 1946 TRL Highway Code stopping distances since he joined the PSNI in 1983 became the Garda Commissioner on 03 09 2018.  Gardai use the TRRL1004 stopping formula which takes 1.53 seconds 57 metres longer than the TRL 1946 Highway Code stopping formula used by the PSNI to stop from speed of 120 km/h.

• Noel Brett was on the Committee of the Policing Authority from 24 11 2016 to 25 05 2017.
• Commissioner Harris and his Deputy Twomey, on TRL advice differ on stopping distances.
• Maximum speed in Ireland South is 120 km/h and 112 km/h in Ireland North.

Motorways and the RSA Expert 2019

27 03 2019, the RSA Expert, wrote in the Irish Independent and published on the RSA Twitter and Facebook pages, "we need to improve our Motorway Driving and Awareness Skills.  Speed, stopping distances, lane usage, joining the traffic, tiredness, pose potential hazards for drivers.  The 916 kilometres of our safest roads are motorways. Your total stopping distance at the upper legal motorway speed limit of 120 km/h is 102 metres in dry conditions.  If feeling tired, Stop, Sip and sleep. Stopping to take, or make, a phone call or to let children out to relieve themselves are not emergencies". So, who is the RSA Expert and are they correct?

Experts seldom hide their identity but, it required Freedom of Information Requests FOIs on 01 04 2019 to discover that Brian Farrell the Road Safety Authority Communications Officer was the ‘RSA Expert’ and Author who had written this and other articles under the name ‘RSA Expert’.  In 2003, Brian Farrell Reviewed the Speed Limits alongside Inspector Michael Brosnan and was the RSA Communications Manager when the retired Garda Inspector Michael Brosnan became the RSA Research Manager and again Reviewed the Speed Limits in 2013.

• Farrell, the RSA Expert declined an invitation to disprove my research by demonstration. Drivers who pass the RSA driving test at the Finglas Driving Test Centre which is the biggest in Ireland are tested at an average speed of 20 km/h, due to the installation of ramps. 50% of drivers tested pass the test and are allowed drive on Motorways at maximum speed immediately provided they display ‘N’ Plates, but many crash afterwards.
• Brian Farrell is the ‘RSA Expert’ responsible for the incorrect stopping distances in the RSA Rules of the Road 2007 to 2019 and he now blames drivers rather than the RSA training and testing system.

TRL established by the British Government in 1933 has misled Parliament and the Highway Code for 73 years on stopping distances since 31 07 1946. TRRL1004 stopping formula by AR Quimby and GR Watts has misled Chief Superintendent Aiden Reid, Deputy Commissioner John Twomey and road Crash Investigators since 1981.  Iain O. York at TRL has misled Brian Farrell and Michael Brosnan at the RSA in 2007 and 2013 on stopping distances, as road fatalities continue in 2019.

• Drivers trained in 12 EDT lessons and tested at 20 km/h are incapable of motorway driving.
• Road crashes will continue while TRL mislead their 1,000 clients in 145 countries.
• TRL CEO Bob Wallis and the 309 RSA staff declined an invitation to disprove my findings.
• It takes 48 seconds 800m to prove my discovery to 120 km/h by demonstration while using VBOX.