Nearly 30 groups have welcomed the reported suggestions for reforming the Road Safety Authority (RSA), including separating its road safety advocacy role from the functions of driver and vehicle testing.
Speaking on RTE Radio last weekend, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless, said it was “reasonably likely” that the RSA would become a smaller organisation focused exclusively on road safety. However, he said that “all options are on the table, nothing is off the table at the moment.”
Following this, it was reported yesterday that Taoiseach Simon Harris also supports the idea of separating the functions of the RSA.
In the statement issued this afternoon, the nearly 30 groups said that the RSA is “failing in its core mission to save lives and prevent injuries” and is unlikely to meet its targets of reducing the deaths from collisions on our roads by 50% by 2030.
“We welcome recent reports that the statutory functions and operations of the RSA will now undergo serious restructuring,” the groups said.
In a joint statement, the groups said: “In April, we expressed no confidence in the Road Safety Authority, believing it to be no longer fit for purpose. At the time of that statement, 58 people had been killed on our roads in 2024. That number now stands at 116, a doubling of deaths within a mere four months.”
The groups said any entity with responsibility for safety campaigns “must provide an independent voice on effective, evidence-based measures to reduce road deaths and injuries” and “must be accountable for where and how it spends public money.”
They said that a reformed organisation should be underpinned with adequately resourced expertise in disciplines such as public health, sustainable transport, data analysis, and road safety design and engineering., and have a “modern Safe Systems approach to road safety”.
The groups said that they came together because they want “safe and healthy roads and streets where everyone can walk, cycle and drive safely”.
The groups listed in the statement are: A Playful City, 15 Minute Westport, Calm Crumlin Road, Cork Commuter Coalition, Cork Cycling Campaign, Cycle Sense Skibbereen, Cycling Without Age, D12 Bike Bus, Drogheda Cycling Campaign, Dublin Commuter Coalition, Dublin Cycling Campaign, I Bike Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Cycling, Better Ennis, Fingal Active Travel CampaignThe groups are: A Playful City, 15 Minute Westport, Calm Crumlin Road, Cork Commuter Coalition, Cork Cycling Campaign, Cycle Sense Skibbereen, Cycling Without Age, D12 Bike Bus, Drogheda Cycling Campaign, Dublin Commuter Coalition, Dublin Cycling Campaign, I Bike Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Cycling, Better Ennis, Fingal Cycling Campaign, Galway Cycle Bus, Galway Cycling Campaign, Limerick Pedestrian Network, Limerick Cycling Campaign, Limerick Cycle Bus, Living Streets, Dún Laoghaire, Monthly Cycles, MÓRAction Oranmore, Naas Cycling Campaign, Navan Cycling Initiative, The Bike Hub, Dún Laoghaire & Crumlin, the Waterford Bicycle Users Group, and the Wee Greenway Initiative.
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No problem with driving tests and NCTs being separated out, provided that the new body has a strong remit in respect of driving standards generally, including a newer, better driving test. Bad road design is a major factor in crashes, accidents and deaths, but let’s give a little credit to generally poor driving standards as well. Bad drivers cause crashes, but also play a huge role in traffic jams (caused by badly judged attempts at overtaking, speeding at amber lights and finding themselves sitting in yellow boxes, refusal to indicate when manoeuvring, driving too close to the car in front of them, not respecting the rights of pedestrians on their way across the road when turning round a corner, and just about EVERY interaction with a cyclist).
The RSA will hopefully have more space to start public safety campaigns, and preferably moving away from the hi-vis/personal responsibility nonsense. In fact, they may be as well to run their own ads on the basics of driving, rather than the bloodless ‘we all share the roads’ ads they were filming in small, deserted town centres.