LED lights and issues with driving attitudes - what is going on?

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

The Hard Shoulder, with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman, on Newstalk, with Ciara.

Shane Coleman (0:08)

Right, we are now going to go to Ger Herbert, motoring editor with The Sunday Independent. Ger, a few things I want to talk to you about. We'll get to the dangers of increasingly bright vehicle headlights in a moment, because I know that is something that a lot of people are talking about. But I do want to start with the news that has emerged over the weekend. Three and a half thousand speeding fines, 146 drink or drug driving arrests, 300 driving with mobile phones. They're pretty shocking stats, aren't they?

Ger Herbert (0:42)

Yeah, they are indeed. And I know it's a terrible thing, Shane, to say that we don't modify our behaviour unless there's a real risk of getting caught. But you would have to look at the decrease in the road policing numbers over the past number of years to see a connection here. I mean, I think having a strong and visible road policing presence would certainly increase the real and perceived risk. And I think that's a big thing, Shane, the perceived risk of detection, the idea that I might get caught. I mean, what we saw over the weekend was blatant disregard for speeding. People doing 50 and 60 percent in, you know, in excess of the speed limit. There are people who obviously think there isn't a hope of me being caught.

Shane Coleman (1:21)

And it's naive to think people might do it because it's the right thing to do and the safe thing to do. Is that naive on my part?

Ger Herbert (1:30)

Yeah, it's interesting. There was research conducted in about, I think it was 37 countries and published last month about speeding. And the majority of people speed because they think actually that it's acceptable. So people actually think it's OK. They think it's like a valid reason is to save time. So I think more effort needs to be put into why speeding is actually a risky behaviour. It's not just a case of you're supposed to go 80 and if you go 90, it's the wrong thing to do. It's that you're actually putting yourself and other road users at risk and actually quantifying what every increase in speed actually does to the impact of a collision and the fatalities that can occur from it. So I think we need more education around that. But then education only goes so far, Shane. I don't think people speed because they don't know they shouldn't.

I think really enforcement, I think possibly more use of cameras, but used cleverly that we use them to raise awareness rather than that we use them surely for revenue generating because I think people don't buy into that. So clearly signpost is where they are and the aim of the camera should be to slow people down, not to, as I said, to raise money.

Shane Coleman (2:36)

The figures for this year are very stark, aren't they? Number of people killed on Irish roads to date, 154 versus 140 for the same period in 2025 and 2025 was a disastrous year on a road. It's not like that was a really good year. I mean, they are really stark figures as well. 154 families in mourning over the last nine, 10 months because of road deaths.

Ger Herbert (3:03)

They are Shane. And the other thing you have to bear in mind is for every person that dies on a road, nine are seriously injured and a third of those have life changing injuries. So when you think about that, so if you multiply that number by three, that's the number you get of the people who have life changing injuries, whose life would, they will never go back to normal. Their families are impacted, their livelihoods, everything. You know, so, I mean, it's not just the numbers who die, it's the other, you know, the other, the impact as well. So, I mean, they are, they're very stark numbers.

Shane Coleman (3:32)

Is the government and the RSA doing enough? I mean, they, you know, they've shied away from a number of measures, particularly the lower speeds limit in urban areas.

And there does seem to be objections from, I think, well, I was going to say rural deputies, but I'm not sure it's just rural deputies, but there seems to be objections from backbench government TDs to any time there's an effort to have stronger rules on speeding or on drink driving laws. I mean, is the government doing enough in relation to this, do you think? Is the RSA doing enough?

Ger Herbert (4:07)

I don't think the government are definitely. I think the message that's coming down is that it's not as important as it used to be. It's not on the agenda like it was before.