Luas Bus crash highlights need for improved traffic safety measures

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The Green Party has called for improved traffic safety measures after this morning's crash between a bus and Luas tram at the Queen Street / Benburb Street junction in Dublin's North Inner City.Councillor Ciarán Cuffe the Green Party's Transport Spokesperson said:"It is a miracle that no-one was killed in this morning's collision. We must now look at what additional safety measures are needed to reduce the risks of accidents like these. Although the safety record of the Luas and Dublin Bus is good, over the years we've had several incidents similar to what occurred today."I want to see An Garda Siochana roll our red-light running cameras at key junctions all over the city. Although we don't know the cause of today's incident we do know that red light cameras have a proven track record in the UK at improving driver behaviour at dangerous junctions. Although there was an eighteen month long pilot project at the Blackhall Place junction that finished in 2017 the project has now been mothballed despite their role in the issuing 624 Fixed Charge Notices."Red light cameras work. The evidence suggests they can reduce injuries by 18%. We need them at more junctions around the city as they not only allow law-breakers to be prosecuted they also deter risk behaviour. "We also need funding from the Department of Transport to roll-out traffic calming measures on key streets in the city. Although streets such as Queen Street have 30 km/h speed limits, up until now we've only had the budget to erect signs, despite the need for physical measures such as carriageway narrowing to reinforce speed limits. Hopefully such a budget will be forthcoming from Minister Shane Ross TD.Issued and uploaded 16th March 2019

published

March 16, 2019

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