Sir, – A safe road is not solely a road where no fatalities or serious injuries have occurred. A safe road is one which everyone can use without discomfort or fear of danger.
We need to recognise a safe road or street by the numbers of people using it – people walking and cycling and wheeling, of all ages, young and old. That is a true indicator of how safe a road is – how much our most vulnerable are protected and prioritised.
The evidence-based solutions are there. They involve different and interconnected approaches, by local and national bodies.
We need to reallocate road space and redesign our roads and streets to protect and to prioritise our most vulnerable. This needs to happen on both rural roads and urban streets.
We need to strictly enforce our existing traffic laws, through both automatic and manual means.
We need to introduce a national default speed limit of 30km/h for all built-up areas.
Children should not have to be driven to a park or playground to play outside. They should not have to be driven to a pitch or club to be physically active.
We traded in our social norm of independent, active and healthy children for poorly designed roads and hostile junctions. We would do well to decide we no longer want that. – Yours, etc,
SÍLE GINNANE,
Ennis, Co Clare.