Councillor says driving culture has got worse

A local councillor has claimed that motorists are no longer paying due care or attention and has issued a plea for something to be done before there are more deaths on our roads. 

Speaking at last week's meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, Cllr Patsy O'Brien said "due care and attention required on the roads has completely deteriorated". 

"Even at a roundabout the other day a person drove straight through and didn’t look. There is an amount of people saying to me the driving culture has changed for the worst.” 

He issued a plea for something to be done, which was supported by Cllr Michael Burke, who stated: “The careless driving is just getting worse and also the speed at which people are driving. 

"I am not surprised so many were pulled over at the Bank Holiday weekend for speeding. I was going to Galway myself on Sunday and on the N6 two cars put themselves at risk passing me out, for no reason. It’s just bananas. No matter what the Department and authorities do, people seem just so careless on the road once they get into cars or it can be vans also that are very dangerous, and unfortunately then we have an awful lot of deaths on our roads.” 

Cllr Neil Cruise described the nature of driving on roads as “aggressive”, telling the forum: “I had reason to study the traffic in a certain area of Foxford recently and it is unreal and unnatural what is going on. Just the carry-on of people, and some of this is from professional drivers who are supposed to hold to a standard, but some of the lorry drivers, what you see them doing, they are cuckoo altogether. 

"If a Go-Pro camera was put in you would see the level of aggression there is from motorists driving through towns, even the way they are pulling up and driving away at speed from pedestrian crossings.” 

Cllr Damien Ryan agreed, stating that "aggression is a big issue", but Cllr Richard Finn said pedestrians make mistakes too.

"We are all human and people are going to make mistakes, cross the road, and walk out in front of cars. We have to accept that and just improve the present situation. Everybody has a responsibility to protect yourself and also members of the public.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.