Initiative details
Fatalities arising from road crashes are unacceptable, however, it appears that society has accepted fatalities arising from road crashes as inevitable. While road traffic crashes may be an everyday occurrence, they are both predictable and preventable.
The goal of my research is to quantify, classify and identify the reasons why road crashes happen and develop a next steps approach to those fully licences drivers who break existing road traffic legislation in Ireland.
The goal of my research is to quantify, classify and identify the reasons why road crashes happen and develop a next steps approach to those fully licences drivers who break existing road traffic legislation in Ireland.
Initiative date
to
Who was/is your target audience?
Policy makers
Public authorities
Car drivers
Educational staff
Others
Topic
Provide alternative solutions
Organisation details
InVue / South East Technological University
School / Research centre
Ireland
Westmeath
Contact name
Trevor Gately
Telephone number
00353874126292
trevor.gately@live.com
Project activities
If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
We aim to work with the Road Safety Authority and the Police Service to gather relevant information that will enable us to:
Determine the causes of road traffic collisions on Irish Roads
To provide a comprehensive review of sources and characteristics of Driver Retraining Programmes and the Driver Offender Retraining Schemes
To consider the effectiveness of Driver Retraining Programmes and the Driver Offender Retraining Schemes
To determine the suitability of Driver Retraining Programmes and the Driver Offender Retraining Schemes in an Irish context
Determine the causes of road traffic collisions on Irish Roads
To provide a comprehensive review of sources and characteristics of Driver Retraining Programmes and the Driver Offender Retraining Schemes
To consider the effectiveness of Driver Retraining Programmes and the Driver Offender Retraining Schemes
To determine the suitability of Driver Retraining Programmes and the Driver Offender Retraining Schemes in an Irish context
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
While the Irish Governments Vision Zero strategy for road safety, “eliminating serious injuries and deaths from road traffic crashes by 2050” is welcomed it is the writers view that we need to explore the main causes of collisions and focus attention on those issues pertaining to driver habits, experience, perception, and risk taking.
I am currently undertaking a Msc in Environmental Health & Safety and my thesis title is - The Evaluation of Driver Retraining Programmes for Fully Licenced Drivers. The submission date for my thesis is July 2023. We are using existing road traffic data available from the Road Safety Authority & the Irish Police Services along with both qualitative and quantitative research research methods.
I am currently undertaking a Msc in Environmental Health & Safety and my thesis title is - The Evaluation of Driver Retraining Programmes for Fully Licenced Drivers. The submission date for my thesis is July 2023. We are using existing road traffic data available from the Road Safety Authority & the Irish Police Services along with both qualitative and quantitative research research methods.
Evaluation
What has been the effect of the activities?
This is very much a work in progress however preliminary research would suggest this a continuous driving retraining is important and a viable option to or attached to the penalty point system:
• The main aim is a solution which is preventative in nature, it allows those drivers who have minor infractions an opportunity to learn (retrain) from the consequences of these infractions
• The main aim is a solution which is preventative in nature, it allows those drivers who have minor infractions an opportunity to learn (retrain) from the consequences of these infractions
Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.
Road crashes are unacceptable, however, it appears that society has accepted collisions arising from road crashes as inevitable and acceptable. While road traffic crashes may be an everyday occurrence, they are both predictable and preventable.
If we consider the research of Herbert Heinrich and Bird regarding the Safety Triangle in road traffic collisions it is clear that serious and fatal RTC's don't just happen. While the specific numbers are debatable from the research, and probably industry-dependent, the conclusion is clear: a large enough number of unsafe acts eventually results in fatalities.
I believe it is crucial that we track near misses, good catches, observations and low level events and deal with them at that stage before the fatalities take place. The way to do this is with existing laws however I believe we need to add a education and retraining for those drivers who are fully licenced.
If we consider the research of Herbert Heinrich and Bird regarding the Safety Triangle in road traffic collisions it is clear that serious and fatal RTC's don't just happen. While the specific numbers are debatable from the research, and probably industry-dependent, the conclusion is clear: a large enough number of unsafe acts eventually results in fatalities.
I believe it is crucial that we track near misses, good catches, observations and low level events and deal with them at that stage before the fatalities take place. The way to do this is with existing laws however I believe we need to add a education and retraining for those drivers who are fully licenced.
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
Currently I am working as a investigator dealing with road traffic collisions and have shared my thought regarding the topic of my thesis with 40 to 50 people. I have received mainly positive feedback from drivers. I will be looking to work with the RSA in Ireland to showcase the project and findings once finalised which I hope will be a welcomed change to a system that needs fresh thought and vision going forward.