Month: October 2007

OK, so Noel Dempsey saw some sense and relented. I’m shocked that he didn’t realise this would be a problem in the first place but it does take some courage to admit you were wrong. So on to the issues of the test itself, namely oversight? I’m comfortable with the idea that non-dangerous and competent drivers should be passed. If it subsequently turns out they drive in a dangerous way then I have no problem in suggesting their license should be suspended. It’s a question of understanding what you can/can’t achieve with the test. The test doesn’t contain a psychometric element. It doesn’t actually determine if you’re the kind of lunatic who overtakes on the way into a corner. Or the kind of idiot who needs to overtake every car in front of him so he can be the first to stop at a set of traffic lights. So really, the test may reduce road deaths from bad driving but it’s only an element in improving road safety. Here are some suggestions. They’re not perfect by any means, just a starting point.

• Make speed limits less arbitrary. Arbitrary seeming speed limits encourage people to drive recklessly. If 80km/h can be sustained safely on a road then that’s a good limit. Don’t arbitrarily make it 60 as people will mostly drive at 80 anyway.
• Charge people a yearly penalty for each point on their license, if the point is accrued for dangerous driving or excessive speed. Make this a percentage of the OMSP of the car they drive, let’s say around 2%. Someone may think twice about exceeding the tonne in that 200k Ferrari if they’re going to pay an additional 8k per year for each speeding offense. Then again, they may not :). I’d be tempted to deduct this from income as a tax but that could have undesired consequences.
• Don’t give points for minor offenses. See above. We want to discourage dangerous driving, not unfairly penalise those who parked in the wrong place for a few minutes. There needs to be some discretion but the points system shouldn’t seem arbitrary.
• Introduce variable speed limits like in the UK. Sometimes it’s safer to drive fast than other times. Surely, this modestly complex technology could be used here?
• Make the test more about safety and less about a driving formula which isn’t practical and isn’t practiced by 99% of the drivers on the road. Have mandatory driver safety workshops where all drivers must attend every few years to refresh their knowledge of road safety issues. For convenience, and to reduce cost, some of these could be given as online courseware. The aim here is to educate not to create something onerous.
• Reward good driving with money! Give those who have no points on their licenses an allowance or tax rebate every year.
• Create an open and affordable racetrack whereby people can race approved and safety checked vehicles if they wish. Speed is exciting and probably inevitable. It would be nice if people could drive quickly in a more controlled environment, away from lorries, trucks, MPV’s with babies in the back etc. The outlet for this need-for-speed shouldn’t be a public road however.

I agree there are quite a few rough edges to these ideas, just planting some seeds.

This applies to political salaries right? I’m not the only irish blogger who believes that the current government lack vision. With apologies to the greens who are in government for the first time, FF has presided over a period where construction and its related industries have been incentivised to the detriment of pretty much everything else. While the government have been slow to recognise that the good times are ending, there have been parallels with property booms and subsequent busts in other European countries. Anyone who feels this is scare mongering should have a look at the insightful publications of Professor Morgan Kelly in UCD. Thanks to Kristian Walsh for the link. The probability of a “soft landing” appears quite low. What a surprise that a government making billions from duty on house purchases weren’t keen to acknowledge the awful truth. What goes up must come down. I’d lay the credit for much of the growth on initiatives of the late 80s and early 90s. With ever larger salaries required to finance the increases in the cost of living brought about by inflation in the housing market it seems we’re no longer as competitive as other markets, e.g. China, even for higher skilled jobs.
So it was with little surprise that the government are giving themselves a big pay rise before the shit hits the proverbial fan. Yes, our lovable Taoiseach has given himself a raise in excess of the average industrial wage. And he’s not alone with the raises given to ministers comfortably exceeding inflation. It’s a bit like the management of a large publically quoted company giving themselves a massive pay rise before announcing a severe profit warning. Unlike the world of business, however, the government rest safe in the knowledge that whatever mismanagemet they engage in the Irish public will elect them every few years.
However, we have one hope. Blinding stupidity and miscommunication which shocks the electorate to their senses. For this we can turn to Noel Dempsey (NO RELATION). For some reason he can’t figure out how creating a transportation nightmare for 120,000 drivers, many of whom need their cars for work, is a sensible move. He’s even dressed it up as a “road safety initiative” with the help of the ever-sanctimonious Gay Byrne. Apparently, based on his comments he is frustrated that the enforcement of the regulations for provisional drivers was detracting from the 126 other measures in the road safety strategy.
“I wish to God the rest of the road safety strategy was getting the same attention from the media. The law will come in on Tuesday. The order is signed . . . the enforcement of the law and how that is going to happen.” What does he expect? Is this some way to fix the budget deficit created by a decade of mismanagement through punitiative fines for previously law-abiding people? Only kidding. However, has the minister considered how ridiculous such an initiative is in light of waiting lists for driving tests in excess of one year. How about the zero accountability of the examiners. They operate with no apparent oversight. Also, consider the alternatives of our frankly pathetic public transport services (I live outside de pale).
On this point I’m not kidding; Mr. Dempsey, I wish to god that you and your party were not in power.