RSA: How to make our roads safer
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What does the rollover simulator reveal about seat‑belt safety?
The Road Safety Authority has a very hands-on presence here at the Plowning Championships. There's a rollover simulator, a virtual reality driving experience, a breathalyzer challenge, and even the seatbelt sheriff, all designed to show people what can happen when things go wrong on the road. Earlier this morning I had the chance to try the rollover simulator myself, and this is how it went. Okay, so we're rolling over in the car. This is uh oh my good god. Okay. The seatbelt is holding me in, thankfully, but I feel like I'm oh my god. Okay, we're upside down. Oh Jesus. Okay, this is uh Oh my god. Ha ha Oh. Uh-huh.
Why have road‑death numbers risen in Ireland this year?
Okay, this is really Oh yeah. Not very pleasant. I'm starting to regret the full Irish this morning. Huh. Yeah. Okay. Now the whole purpose of that was to demonstrate the importance of having your seatbelt on tight and most of us don't have our seat belts on properly. What you need to do when you're when you get in is tighten the seatbelt up over your waist and make sure it's in tight. into the holder because otherwise you've too much slack in this in the seat belt and in that instance I was going at speed into the roof of the car and it would have been a very, very nasty experience. Well there you go, as you can hear I bravely uh undertook the rollover simulator. Now that was mainly done for the entertainment of my production team, but there is a really, really serious um issue there.
Uh it's a good reminder of just how quickly things can go wrong on the road and the vital importance of making sure your seatbelt is properly fitted. Certainly an eye opener and I'll be taking a lot more care about that in the future.
How does the RSA plan to change risky driver behaviours?
And that's really what the RSA is trying to get across here today, and there is no getting away from the fact that road safety remains a serious, serious issue. I am joined on the line now by Anne Graham, Chair of the Road Safety Authority. Anne, good morning to you.
Good morning, David.
Uh thanks for joining us. Um being in that rollover simulator Anne it just gave me a a a really important reminder of just how quickly thang things can go wrong on the roads. And so far this year w we've a hundred and thirty three lives lost, uh which is a a huge increase um on this same period from last year. What what is going wrong, do you think?
So obviously, you know, any increase in road deaths is unacceptable because every number represents a person, a family and a community whose lives have been changed forever. And Ireland we've achieved enormous improvements over two decades, but we've seen now that progress has stalled and in fact it's reversed in recent years. But it's not unique to Ireland. Many countries have experienced deterioration after COVID, but the challenge is complex and and it can't be attributed to one factor alone. So our focus uh in the Road Safety Authority is on implementing the road safety strategy and using evidence to target the kind of behaviours that are most strongly associated with deaths and serious injury, including speeding, distraction, impairment, seatbone seatbelt noncompliance that you experienced uh this morning and other high risk uh behaviours.
And it's about taking um a safe system approach, 'cause no single inter intervention is going to solve the problem alone.
Is enforcement on Irish roads sufficient to deter violations?
We have to work with all our partners, including road users and Guard Sheikon and local authorities, and all of us working together to try and reduce uh road deaths.
The type of messages that you're trying to get across through education, I mean you're uh you've touched on them there, speeding, drink and drug driving, fatigue is a is a big one, phones and uh seatbelts. But is th are those messages simply not getting through to people?
Well I think um knowledge alone doesn't change behavior. You know, behavior uh does change. It doesn't change unless it ha you have knowledge. So we have to keep um putting those messages forward. Um because most drivers know that speeding uh is dangerous and that phones are distracting, yet people continue to engage in risky behaviors.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What does the rollover simulator reveal about seat‑belt safety?
0:00–0:46
2
Why have road‑death numbers risen in Ireland this year?
0:46–1:54
3
How does the RSA plan to change risky driver behaviours?
1:54–3:40
4
Is enforcement on Irish roads sufficient to deter violations?
3:40–4:56
5
How can the RSA better reach young drivers with safety messages?
4:56–6:18
6
Will upcoming reforms improve the RSA’s effectiveness?
6:18–8:17
7
What actions are being taken to protect vulnerable motorcyclists?
8:17–10:17