Motorist-cyclist collision reporting concerns backed by report

Garda trafficA report covering how the Gardai improperly record and follow up on reports of crime backs up concerns cycling collisionson how cycling collisions are handled by the police force, Cyclist.ie said today.

Cyclist.ie, a group representing some cycling campaigns around the country, said that the Garda Inspectorate Report on Crime Investigation “doesn’t mince its words”.

The report highlighted how most types of crime is often classified as less serious, and how some reports of crime do not get logged in the Garda Pulse computer system.

Cyclist.ie said: “If a cyclist is knocked off his or her bike from impact with a motorised vehicle that is a potential criminal offence if serious injury results. Cyclists expect all such road traffic collisions to be properly and fully investigated and recorded with appropriate follow-up. That clearly is not happening at present.”

The group added: “The Departments of Transport, Justice and Health and the Road Safety Authority need to ensure that this scandal ends. It is an action from the NCPF since 2009. No sign of urgency so far.”

Garda Inspectorate Report on Crime Investigation, said: “This inspection has identified several deficiencies in recording practices, supervision and governance over recorded crime and the level of recorded detections for those crimes. The veracity of crime recording in Ireland must be addressed immediately. It is for this reason that the Inspectorate is making substantial recommendations to get it right from the first contact with a victim reporting a crime and through every stage of the investigative process”.

In an example which might sound familiar to many people who have reported a collision while they were cycling, the report said: “Where a garda not assigned to a call comes across an incident such as a traffic collision, it is good practice to inform a control room that they are dealing with an incident. In response, the call taker should create a CAD incident or a paper record. This ensures that a record is created and allows the incident to be recorded and supervised. The original garda is then shown as unavailable for other calls. Not every call needs to be recorded, but where the garda will have to take further action, it is good practice to record the activity. In the absence of such a record, the incident could stay in a garda notebook and if an enquiry is later made, it can be difficult to establish which garda dealt with that incident.”


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1 comment

  1. Garda commitment to road safety is a fallacy. There is a reduced speed limit on the M7 due to road repairs. There is little evidence of any enforcement and even the Traffic Corp vehicles are exceeding the speed limit. This even was occurring on the day that that unfortunate lady was killed near the Kildare Village, so there is no chance that they are going to take accidents/incidents involving cyclists any way seriously.

    Reply

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