Road Safety: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-17 ============================================================ Seán Kyne (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel The Minister of State is welcome. I acknowledge the Government's swift decision in relation to a decision to enact legislation to ban the use of scramblers in public places in memory of Grace Lynch. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Grace's family, to her mother, Siobhán, and her siblings for their tragic loss. The Minister of State might be able to fill us in regarding what the timeline on that might be. I also acknowledge the roads funding announced today. It not just a case of people perhaps getting from A to B faster if a motorway is built but it is also a safer drive than it would be on a traditional national road. Similarly, a realignment of an existing national road will improve sight lines and overtaking opportunities. It is increasing the safety and drivability of that road for all road users, whether it be for car users, cyclists or motorcyclists. For everybody, it is a safer driving experience. In relation to this Private Members' motion, I wish to highlight a couple of things, one being safety belts. Based on the statistics from the Road Safety Authority, RSA, and causal observing, the vast majority - over 95% - of people who are driving are wearing a safety belt. Generally, there has been a huge improvement in the past number of decades in relation to rear passenger users wearing safety belts. Yet the statistics show quite clearly from the RSA that in 2021 a quarter of drivers and passengers killed in road traffic collisions were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. That is not to say that 25% of people were not wearing a safety belt. It means that 25% of people who died were not wearing a safety belt, despite the fact that seatbelt wearing is at a very high rate with over 97%. Those are stark statistics in relation to the benefits of wearing safety belts. E-scooters have been mentioned. There have been comprehensive regulations passed on e-scooters recently. A statement from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland stated that "e-scooter accidents are now the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries ... in children admitted to the paediatric neurosurgical centre at Children’s Health Ireland, Temple Street". Again, that is something that is absolutely frightening. It should be frightening to all parents. People whiz around on e-scooters. There are regulations but are they being enforced? Are they being managed with people? Are people aware of the regulations? The fact that there are youngsters who are enjoying themselves in many cases on e-scooters and who end up having a traumatic brain injury is a very worrying thing indeed. I welcome the roads funding announced today. We have seen over the past number of years measures such as safe routes to schools, active travel initiatives and a myriad of different types of funding that will slow down traffic, such as traffic calming measures and pedestrian crossings. They are all very important. There is an opportunity now that I ask the Minister of State to explore. For example, in an area like Connemara, funding has been approved for a pedestrian crossing at Clifden on the national road. We also need them in Letterfrack and Roundstone, where I was at a meeting last night, as well as in Cornamona, Clonbur and Killannin. It is a very busy section, with a 50 km/h zone, a school at one side and an estate on the other. Again, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has to come on board in relation to moving forward initiatives like this. They are relatively low cost but are major safety improvements for a locality. Whether it is the flashing lights or a low size speed cushion or a zebra crossing, all those things can slow down traffic as well as general traffic calming measures. I encourage the Minister of State to look proactively at some of those initiatives and engage with TII to see if it can push forward on these. There is a reluctance in some cases for it to engage in relation to pedestrian crossings on national routes. That is the feedback that I get. The majority of the places that I mentioned are national routes. Some are regional as well like Roundstone. Again, we could do more. I am sure it is the same in the Minister of State's half of the county and in other counties and cities across the country. I ask him to look at that as well. Another point that I have not raised in the motion, but it is important, is that I have come across houses when I am knocking on doors or between elections that one would be scared to come out of in a car. I do not know how the owners come out of those houses. They are invariably pre-1963 houses. There was never planning. They just lived in them. I will paint a picture of one that I came to on the N59 near Oughterard. An old couple in their 70s came out and I could not see left or right. I got out of the car, ran out and looked at left and right to see could I see anything coming and then took a chance. God help us if there was a lad coming at 120 km/h, which they should not be, but there was going to be trouble. I do not know how they get out of houses. If there was any way of assistance being provided for houses and homeowners like that who may not have the wherewithal to make a safer exit from their own property, I ask the Minister of State to look into that. It would be a worthy investment in localities. Those are our national routes, but they could also be on regional or county roads as well. If the Department pinpointed a number of houses in a county where it could improve safety, it would be a worthy investment as well. Again, it is not all about roads. It is also about providing the alternatives to people who do not need to use cars, particularly for older people. Hence the importance of the rural link, Local Link, regular bus services and investment in bus shelters to make the transport and bus journey more attractive. Those are initiatives that could assist. In relation to technologies, people speed for a variety of reasons. It is mainly because they probably think they will not get caught. If there were initiatives and there are new technologies in relation to slowing people down, if they knew they were going to get caught at something, they are less likely to do it. Whether it is texting on a mobile phone, going at excessive speeds, drink driving and drug driving, they are all initiatives. However, if a driver does not think he or she will be caught, they can continue them. If they think they will get caught, they are more likely not to do those things. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-17