South Meath Driving School

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána are urging motorcyclists, scooter and moped users to bike safely on the roads this summer following an almost 70% rise in motorcycle rider fatalities (up from 16 to 27) in 2013.To date, 2 motorcyclists have died on Irish roads in 2014.

The appeal is being made ahead of the May Bank Holiday Weekend as both the RSA, and An Garda Síochána are extremely concerned that the high casualty rate among motorcyclists could be repeated this summer. There were almost as many motorcyclists as pedestrians killed in 2013, a trend not previously observed, as pedestrian fatalities have typically been significantly higher than motorcyclist fatalities to date. The RSA and An Garda Síochána are asking motorcycle riders to be aware of their vulnerability on the roads as research shows that motorcyclists are three times more likely to be killed on Irish roads than in any other EU country.

A provisional analysis of motorcycle deaths last year by the RSA & An Garda Síochána shows that there were four main factors behind these deaths:

1. A motorcyclist overtaking a vehicle turning right, resulting in the motorcyclist colliding with the side of the turning vehicle
2. A motorcyclist, while overtaking, colliding head on with an oncoming vehicle
3. A motorcyclist losing control while cornering and crossing into the path of an oncoming vehicle or colliding with a pole, or wall on the other side of the road
4. A driver failing to see a motorcyclist when turning, driving through a junction or joining a main road from a minor road and colliding with the motorcyclist.

A collision with a car ahead turning right was a particular problem resulting in nine fatalities alone last year. The vast majority of motorcycle fatalities last year took place in the Dublin and greater Dublin area (Counties Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow).

In 16 of 22 fatalities, the motorcyclist was familiar with the local area. Also, in the majority of cases the weather was dry, the road surface was also dry, and the conditions were daylight with good visibility.

Advising road users ahead of the bank holiday Mr Leo Varadkar T.D., Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport said, “Riding a motorbike can be an incredible experience and it gives a great sense of freedom. But motorcyclists are also among the most vulnerable road users. Going full throttle represents a danger to others, and above all to yourself. Your attitude is absolutely critical in determining the likelihood of having a crash, so be bike safe this summer. Drivers also have a responsibility to always look out for motorcycles, and all motorists should look once for cars and twice for bikes.”

Advising motorists and motorcyclists Mr. Michael Rowland, Director, Road Safety Authority said, “As drivers we need to pay more attention and be constantly on the lookout for motorcyclists, in our blind spots at junctions and especially when turning right. Motorcyclists should be extremely careful when overtaking and when taking bends. While mandatory lessons are now required for anyone learning to ride a bike nowadays, there are many who have never received any training. They’ve learned to ride from the ‘fall off your horse, just get back up on it again’ school of learning. Regardless of your experience, or how long you have been biking, I would urge anyone who has never received any formal motorcycle training to do so with one of the many Approved Motorcycle Riding Instructors around the country. A list can be found on rsa.ie.”

Some handy safety tips for motorcyclists, scooter and moped users include:

• Motorcyclists, moped and scooter-users are among the most vulnerable of our road-users. You don’t have the protection of a car so investing in proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is a must.
• Helmets must be worn at all times and must be securely fastened. Clean your visor gently with warm soapy water. Replace it if it is scratched.
• Jackets and trousers should offer adequate protection against impact and abrasion.
• Body armour on exposed areas such as the back, knees, elbows, shoulders, hips and shins should be adjustable so it fits snugly and does not move in a crash.
• A good reflective jacket should be worn and will make you more visible on the road, increasing your profile.
• Always wear protective gloves and footwear that at least comes over the ankle. Use ear protection on long journeys.
• Always service your bike regularly and maintain it in good condition especially tyres, brakes, etc.

The Road Safety Authority advise that Licensing laws across the EU require that, to be entitled to a Licence, you must be ‘normally resident’ in the country granting the licence. This rule has not changed in recent times. Applying that rule on the ground, the term ‘normally resident’ is generally considered as the place where a person usually lives, for at least 185 days in each calendar year, because of personal and work ties, or, in the case of a person with no work ties, because of personal ties which show close links between that person and the place where he or she is living.

In 2008, the unemployment rate was around 5% and immigration was double the number emigrating. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is 13% and the annual emigration rate has increased by 350 percent. But, as Stan Laurel used say, things are never as bad as they seem as a high percentage of those leaving were foreign, Furthermore, a happier figure for a twelve month period of 2011/12 was that while 46,500 Irish left our shores, 20,600 returned.

With such numbers on the move, Irish holders of a Driving Licence should keep in mind the expiry date, especially those who might be returning home some years hence. (See ultimate paragraph.)

Where a person is working abroad on a fixed term contract or attending a college or university generally they can be thought of as resident in Ireland providing they have and can demonstrate their personal ties here.

In 2008, the unemployment rate was around 5% and immigration (inward movement) was double the number emigrating. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is currently 13% and the annual emigration rate has increased by 350 per cent. But things are never as bad as they seem as a high percentage of those leaving were foreign. Furthermore, a happier figure for a twelve month period of April 2011/12 was that while 46,500 Irish left our shores, 20,600 returned.

If a person is currently abroad s/he must show that the conditions above are met and provide the necessary evidence showing;

If working: A letter from an employer stating that s/he is working on a fixed term contract / placement

If studying: Correspondence from the College/ University confirming the title and duration of the course s/he is studying

Evidence of being ‘normally resident’ in Ireland: this could be by way of the person’s address on a recent utility bill, a statement from a financial institution, correspondence from a State Department or Agency.

If entitlement is established, the driving licence will be posted to the person’s Irish address. A special application form must be completed which is available on request from the Road Safety Authority, Primrose Hill, Dublin Road, Ballina, Co. Mayo – telephone +353 (0) 96 78271. An email request for an application form can be made to licensingqueries@rsa.ie giving the Irish postal address to which the application form will be posted. A copy of your passport and two passport photographs will need to accompany an application.

If an Irish licence expires while a driver is resident abroad the entitlement to a licence remains in place for 10 years from the date of expiry. This means that the licence can be renewed within that period without undergoing theory test or driving test requirements. In the case of a learner permit the entitlement remains for a period of five years.

Provisional road crash statistics for 2013, which have been published by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), shows that for the first time since 2005, road traffic fatalities have increased on Irish roads. A total of 189* people have lost their lives on the roads in 2013, compared to 162 in 2012, representing a 17% rise.

Gay Byrne, Chairman, RSA, said, “We have consistently warned that the greatest danger we face on the roads is complacency and, unfortunately, in 2013 we have as a society, dropped our guard. As a result we have managed to kill 27 more people this year compared to last. It’s a stark way to put it but it’s the truth. It represents a very worrying development and highlights the need for all road users to be more vigilant.”

Mr. Byrne added that, “We must get back on track and reverse the increase in deaths. This means all agencies responsible for road safety must push harder to implement all 144 actions contained in the new Government Road Safety Strategy, which was launched earlier in 2013. But critically it means that all of us must accept greater responsibility by becoming custodians and champions for safety on the road. By doing this we can save lives and prevent injuries.” Then, what a start there was to this year with the horror crash in Mayo: two more young lads gone to their reward at 4am.

Of real concern is the number of vulnerable road users killed. One third of those who died were a pedestrian (30), a cyclist (5) or a motorcyclist (27). Closer examination of pedestrian fatalities shows that a significant proportion of fatalities were aged 50 plus. A high proportion of pedestrian fatalities occurred while crossing the road.

Of significant concern is the fact that nearly twice as many motor cyclists died in 2013 compared to last year. 27 lives were lost among this group compared to 16 in 2012.

Referring to the impending Road Traffic Bill, 2014, the Transport Minister added that, “This new Road Traffic Bill is the third piece of Road Traffic legislation that this Government has approved since coming to office. The Bill introduces reforms for driving licences which will create a new class of Novice driver, and will allow testing for intoxicated driving, including drug driving. It also provides for the addition of new penalty point offences and an increase in points for certain road safety offences such as mobile phone use and non-seatbelt wearing. I am confident that these new road safety measures will go some way towards improving road safety in 2014.”

Gay Byrne fired a volley over the bows of the Justice Department and the Gardai relating to the advertised checkpoint saturation for December and Little Christmas. He says he saw none. I saw none and on the week-end before Christmas I did a return drive to that little part of Connaught which is east of the Shannon. In a recent AA survey of 26,000 motorists, 72% felt that the Garda presence on the roads had reduced. And, if it didn’t, we are seeing phantoms in uniform. One simple statistic bears out the reality that the Garda Traffic Corps has recently reduced in number from 1,200 to 800 and falling.

Jim Cusack of the Sunday Independent points to the lesser effect that checkpoints are probably having, because of the era of smart technology in which we now live. Once a checkpoint is set up this ‘bush telegraph’ has the news spread far and wide within ten or 15 minutes, he contends. Of course such roadblocks are useful for many other aspects of policing like vehicle roadworthiness, insurance etc. The mere presence of Gardai on the roads is very significant as I outlined in a story from Australian policing, na bliana seo caite.

So, the conclusion most are drawing is that we are back to complacency with a little carelessness thrown in.

Sadly, that’s the way a minority of motorists think. They simply think it’s only the Gardai who can catch them misbehaving –  oh, no, not  the ambulance driver or surgeon’s scalpel, not to mention Heffernan’s  or Smith’s resting places.

Have a peek at motorcyclist figures – 27 dead, up from 16 in 2012. I’m not surprised as few of them comply with any law of the road. They consistently break speed limits, have a compulsion to overtake everything, sometimes on the hard shoulder and they never keep in queue.

I have to agree that enforcement is just not in existence: a common offence of parking against the flow of traffic is as common as parking with the flow. It’s one area that causes serious problems when emerging and trying to cross to the left side; this gets even worse at night time. It’s never enforced. The routine use of foglights is another thorn in the eye: and trundling through hatched areas is a must for practically all, it seems.

Drivers should remember what our ‘Dear Leader’ Albert R. said in the Dail – “You cross the big hurdles but it’s the little ones that will trip you up!”

He had contributed handsomely to the peace agreement in N.I. in ’94 and then, just a few months later, he was standing down as Taoiseach over a simple extradition warrant of a paedophile priest.

Let the driver beware.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána recently launched their Christmas and New Year Road Safety Campaign at the Medical Bureau for Road Safety, UCD. The focus of this year’s campaign is serious head injuries as a result of road collisions. Statistics from the National Neurosurgery Centre at Beaumont Hospital show that of an average of 250 head trauma transfers to the hospital every year, 1 in 7 are as a result of a road collision.

To date in 2013, 36 admissions were as a result of road traffic collisions. The year-to-date statistics also show that vulnerable road users (motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists) represent 70% of admissions as a result of road collisions and are two and a half times more likely to sustain a traumatic brain injury than car-users

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr Leo Varadkar TD said:

“In 2012, we had the lowest number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads since records began for the fifth consecutive year. But as 2013 draws to a close, 13 more people have died on our roads so far compared with the numbers who died during the entire year in 2012, including the Christmas period. These numbers not only represent lives lost but huge tragedy for the families, friends and communities left behind. The increase in road deaths in 2013 serves as a stark reminder of why we must all continue to make our roads safer for everyone, particularly over Christmas and New Year.”

At the launch, Mr David O’Brien, Clinical Director at Beaumont Hospital’s National Neurosurgery Centre presented hospital data from the past year, giving a profile of how head injuries present to the Unit as a result of road collisions.

“This year, we have treated 36 patients with head trauma as a result of a road traffic collision. The typical profile of our head trauma patients is young adult males. Of those, 13 were cyclists; none of them were wearing helmets. We also saw 10 drivers, 7 pedestrians and 5 motorbike riders.”

“What people may not realise is there is a small army involved in the aftercare of these trauma victims. These patients can have long lasting disabilities, which can be physical or non-physical, and some may never fully recover. We’re never going to eliminate road traffic collisions completely, but what we can do is minimise them, and part of this is down to each individual’s behaviour.

At the launch, Mr Gay Byrne, Chairman, Road Safety Authority reminded people not to forget those who have sustained serious head injuries in collisions:

“When we hear or read about road collisions, more often than not, it’s because someone has died. But what we often forget are those who are seriously injured in these collisions. With a head injury, the effects are not always immediately apparent and the consequences these people live with can be invisible. But they’re not invisible, they’re devastating – to the individual, their families and their communities.”

“As we enter the final days of 2013 and the beginning of a new year, I want us all to remember these people and to remember that all it takes is a split second for a serious injury or worse to happen. Our message, as always, is simple – don’t take risks on the road. Slow down, wear your seatbelt, never ever drink or drug drive, wear high visibility clothing if you’re out walking or on your bike, and make sure you get home safely this Christmas.”

Over the festive period, there will be a determined focus by An Garda Síochána on key lifesaver offences, i.e. driving under the influence, speeding, non-use of seatbelts and use of mobile phones.

Speaking at the launch, Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey said:

“The Christmas enforcement campaign by An Garda Síochána is in full force during the month of December. There will be an increase in the number of Mandatory Alcohol Testing checkpoints performed, and they will be carried out on a targeted, 24/7 basis. Speeding enforcement by the GoSafe safety camera vans will also increase to 7,375 hours of monitoring in the month of December.

“In addition to enforcement activity, there will be a number of safety initiatives targeting vulnerable road users, namely pedestrians and cyclists. I would like to remind everyone that this is not about catching people, it’s about protecting each and every person who uses the roads so we can all have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.”

At the launch, Sean Dixon spoke about how his life has changed since he was in a collision in 2011:

“You would never know by looking at me that I have a brain injury. I can walk down the street and people would think there is nothing wrong. But after the accident, there were a lot of consequences for me… I suffered memory loss and still have to work hard to focus on my short term memory. It has affected my relationships with my family, and I had to leave my job in the army. I was two weeks away from going to serve in the Lebanon. The effect it has had on my life is huge.”

Happy Christmas to all our readers. Stay safe.

Ancient Irish roads were classified into seven types with regard to size and use. Lovely Gaelic names like Conair, was a road of any kind; Slige was a main road; Bothar, today’s term for a road; Bothereen was a little road or lane, while Bealach was a pass; Tochair was a link road.

In the Book of the Dun Cow, there is reference to the five main roads leading from Tara –

1, Slige Asail ran due west towards Lough Owel. 2, Slige Midluachra ran northwards towards Slane, through the Moyra Pass to Newtownhamilton to the palace of Eamhain and on to the north coast of Antrim. 3 Slige Cualann ran south-east through Dublin, over the Liffey by the hurdle-bridge that gave the city its ancient name Baile atha Cliath, the town of the hurdle ford, and on to Bray. 4, Slige Dala ran south-west through Ossary in Kilkenny. 5, Slige Mor, the great highway, ran south-west and joined the Esker Riada at Clonard leading west on to Galway.

Those roads were constructed mainly of stone, tree trunks, bushes and clay placed in layers and trampled down till sufficiently firm. They were well maintained by those early Gaels and able to support a horse and carriage.

The late Polly Cunningham of Porchfield Cottage and Eleanor De Eto pointed out to me an original road that they said led to Tara. It ran parallel to the road that now joins the Trim by-pass to Marcie’s Tavern through Lackanash and Newtown. Without excavation, let alone preservation, it was silently bulldozed out of existence.

The Anglo Normans, under Simon de Rochefort, built Newtown Cathedral of Ss Peter and Paul in the early 1200s, while the winding bridge there wasn’t constructed for several hundred years more. While the Cathedral fell into ruin in the 16^th century, the bridge and its environs gradually grew stronger and bolder. The only threat to this great carriageway came in the mid 1970s when it was proposed to build a by-pass around the town using the bridge as one of the lanes. Two stalwarts opposed the development, one Michael A. Regan and one Marcella Regan.

While Michael A. rode shotgun on his horse named ‘Business’ in a high profile manner giving interviews from the hip to Telefis Eireann, BBC, CNN and Niall Lacey of Trim pirate radio, his namesake, Marcie was more in the mould of Barbara Frietchie in the poem of the same name where Whittier describes an incident in the American civil war when the Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson, rode through Union territory of Maryland –

‘She leaned far out on the window-sill,

And shook it forth with a royal will.

“Shoot, if you must, this grey old head,

But spare your country’s flag,” she said.’

It was the likes of the Regans, no relation according to Marcie, who saved our heritage from the front-loading pens of Ireland’s planning officers.

Nonetheless, this little ‘bothereen’ that leads from everywhere to Marcie’s wateringhole doesn’t sleep easily. Of late, it has been upgraded to a tochair, with its first coat of tar in two generations, according to Tosh Hollande. With a smart, broken white line down the middle, the men with the black stuff managed to widen it by a foot or two. All was well until this line of longitude arrived at the famous bridge when, for some strange reason, it just ran out of latitude. The old order that was Marcie’s Junction was changed without a shot being fired or an interview given or taken. The main road became a Bealach, the minor road became a Slige and a green traffic light is followed by a snappy ‘Stop’ sign; a carpark occupies centre stage of the  middle of the olde main road; there’s double yellow lines where thirsty men lately laid nose bags for their horses. There’s no elbow room to turn left on emerging from the bridge, even after stuttering to a stop. Then there’s the newest design of a turning lane for those heading over the bridge from the by-pass. It’s in the shape of a reticulated python, fit to accommodate no more than one and a half cyclists.

‘Are you right there  Michael A ..’re you right, do you think that we’ll be home before the night?’

It’s time to jump on your horse again, Michael.

I dropped into Had Rian’s mineral bar, aka Marcie’s, for a breather having surveyed Little Galveston outside. There were many other non believers there. Alababs said it was worse than the destruction of the monasteries by Henri. Tuitenkhaman claimed all would be well in time as it was only a little temporary arrangement. D’olivera Plant maintained it was just an introductory outline but, when challenged by Matthew Rose, he said he agreed that it would most likely be a permanent job.

The exchange was a reminder of a County Council meeting in Manorhamilton in the 60s when the chairman was talking up his latest project. A few times in his address, he used the descriptions ‘Temporary’ and ‘Permanent.’ One councillor was having difficulty understanding those long winded adjectives and asked his friend, Councillor McHugh to explain. However, McHugh had dozed off due to the effects of some laden refreshments he had consumed earlier.

“McHugh, what’s the maening of them big words, timperory and pirminaunt that the chairman is using,” he asked more than once. Disturbed from his slumber, McHugh muttered, “I’m drunk, that’s temporary, you’re ignorant, that’s permanent. Now, let me sleep.”

Away from the Manorhamilton address, Alababs maintained that the Stop sign at the front door outside was akin to a gate in Hadrian’s Wall itself, a stop off point and resting place and that the new Had Rian had a hand in the plan. Tuitenkhaman argued that the new carpark had a similar end result in that those who parked up first had no way out as the last one in blockaded the exit. “I had no hand act or part in that at all,” said Matthew Rose, a shareholder, with a broad grin.

“Well, at least the job didn’t take as long to complete as Polly’s bridge up the road a cupla years ago there,” interjected Franklin D. from the corner. “Oh, God,” says Alababs, “ shur that took longer than the Chesapeake Bay to finish.”

Dear Marcie, don’t interrupt your sleep for you’d quickly return on seeing some modern-day planners at work which you just might dismiss as a total ‘bealach.’