Road Carnage
Are we getting de-sensitised to the almost daily news of traffic deaths on our roads? In this small nation does the number of these tragedies sound out of the ordinary? How is it that the attempts by the Government, the National Roads Authority, or the Gardai to quell this storm of misery continually fail to remove the "car" from carnage?
Bertie Ahern said in the Dail that he was not responsible for the traffic congestion at the Port Tunnel recently because he was not driving the van that crashed and caused hours of delays. That seems to set the tone for the governments political philosophy of Excusiology, and their distancing themselves from any responsibility for anything but the blossoming economy.
With all the advisers and consultants they have on the payrolls, at our expense, you’d think one of them would have anticipated the bid for Aer Lingus by Ryan Air, the need for Emergency Services to shift vehicles to keep traffic flowing smoothly, or a system of Road Death prevention!
Instead of revamping the Driver’s Licensing scandal, budgeting driver education in the classrooms, detailing some of the Garda force to patrol out on the streets, or giving local communities support to combat their own unique problem areas, Bertie passes the buck to Gay Byrne and turns his back on the issue!
It is lack of political will and excusiology that prevents any pro-active initiative on the part of this government to tackle the very preventable slaughter on our roads.
To put it into perspective there are two examples I would like to place before you, one hypothetical, one fact. The former being this: How long would the present government allow the Irish Defence Forces to remain in a peace keeping mission if one soldier a day was being returned home in a body bag? And for the fact: More people have died on Ireland’s roads in the last 10 years on Bertie’s watch than died in 30 years of the "Troubles". Yes, for the population of this country there are inordinately too many deaths on our roads. The time for excuses, buck passing, and hand wringing is over, what we need is Leadership in government that can make decisions with fore-sight.
Bertie Ahern, Excusiologist
