Minister's mobile phones play is a political grandstand

Minister for the Environment Noel Dempsey made a big political play this week about the possibility of banning the use of mobile phones in cars. And in terms of road safety, that’s what it was. A political play. A grandstand.

Sure, using handheld mobiles is a distraction while driving. I have been guilty of doing it myself, and I’m saying that to make it clear this is a straight column. But to make such a big thing of this matter for an apparent accident involvement of two deaths this year is losing sight of really important things.

Mobile phones have been possibly responsible for the equivalent of less than half a per cent of the deaths on the road as counted for the year 2000. Compared to, for instance, a full four per cent which have been blamed on road conditions, or the 10 per cent which were caused by pedestrians.

Sure, it is a half a percentage point too much, if true (a perusal through IrishCar.Com will show that the real research into mobile phone distraction is only just getting under way).

But it is an easy and sexy way for a minister of government to get headlines, intimating that he’s doing something about road deaths. And I am disappointed in Noel Dempsey for succumbing to this. There’s a lot more he could be making headlines about.

Look at our recent survey on driving training and insurance, carried out in conjunction with the RAC. It showed that four out of five respondents believe Irish drivers – especially young drivers - are NOT adequately prepared to go driving.

And virtually all those who responded favour the Government taking more action and spending more money in this area. It is done in most other modern countries.

Look at our motorways and dual carriageways, very few of which have proper median barriers to prevent ‘crosscursions’ of out-of-control vehicles. Three people died on the M50 alone this year because of this pretty unique-to-Ireland lack. A third more than died from alleged ‘mobile phone use’.

But if the ‘distraction’ direction is the line the minister wants to take - and there are many worse distractions, such as unsecured and impatient children, or even over-talkative passengers - he should also consider the following:

• A significant number of radios provided in cars in Ireland are very awkward to use. A distraction, and one for which there is no knowledge of its involvement in accidents. But in my own experience, a more serious problem than a lot of other things.

• The drivers of school buses are once again coming on the radio airwaves with their annual complaints of being asked to manage on their own coachloads of rumbustious children, who are also required by the regulations to sit three to two seats without the possibility of using any seatbelts which might be provided. Perhaps Noel Dempsey might confer with his Education opposite number to avert a Stardust-size tragedy waiting to happen?

• As our ‘On the Road with Rosemary Smith’ series shows, the standard of driving in this country - regardless of mobile phone use - is abysmal. Why is Minister Dempsey not making serious representations to his Justice colleague asking that the gardai spend as much time pulling over motorists for simple bad driving as they do sitting on our safest and least accident-prone roads earning speeding revenues?

Minister, there’s a lot of stuff out there that needs to be dealt with immediately, and which can be handled under the existing legislation and driving code. You might not get sexy political headlines out of making sure of the enforcement of these, but it will certainly, on the statistics, do far more than you are suggesting banning mobile phones will do.

Phone me if you need more details.

I promise to pull over.

©2001brianbyrne/IrishCar.Com

(Brian Byrne is editorial director of IrishCar.Com)