I don’t do DIY.

I don’t climb up stepladders and nail in screws. Don’t clean out the gutters. Don’t paint ceilings.

The most dangerous place is the home. There is where you are most likely to have an accident, strain your back, slip down the stairs… One of my best friends, Mike, was killed in his house when he fell down stairs late at night. So, I have good reason to be careful about what I take on.
Especially now that I have a young wiffe & daughter to consider.

The most dangerous thing I do is drive a car. I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth reminding myself that up until I got a company car in 1993 I had little to worry about. From that day on I began to run huge risks with my life.

In the UK I felt vulnerable because of the volume of traffic on the roads and especially because of the long distances I drove at times: a few times I have almost fallen asleep at the wheel. Always it is the last mile which is the most dangerous. That’s when I’ve been most tired and that’s when the road lighting has been at its worst.

In Ireland I have been positively terrified. My first impressions include:

(1) the roads are not built for driving; they are really made for cows and tractors
(2) the people are not made for driving; they don’t have much skill at it
(3) the cars are pretty young.

When I think about the accident & emergency situation in hospitals - the waiting - I get anxiety squared.

So I have been watching the daily reports of road deaths and counting. It looks as if it is going to hit about 350-400 this year.

Yesterday was horrific: a bus taking children to school overturns and a young boy is dead. So many nearly killed. For every death, there must by about 10 near misses.

The Irish Examiner gave over all its front page to one headline:

“DEATH ON OUR ROADS: A SPECIAL REPORT

GERALDINE RAFFERTY,
MICHAEL REID,
DECLAN MCCORMACK
AND KATHRYN DEVANEY ALL DIED
IN THE LAST 48 HOURS.
THE DEATH TOLL
ON OUR ROADS HAS NOW PASSED 100
IN JUST 93 DAYS.

HOW MANY MORE MUST DIE?”

Giving over the whole front page to one issue is something The Independent has done over Iraq and recently over Immigration. It is an effective way of catching potential readers and campaigning.

Reminds me of Zola’s

J’ACCUSE

The Examiner is campaigning over road deaths. Inside there was a double page feature with photos of most of those who have died so far this year, giving their age and county.

A really good review of the government’s Road Safety Strategy 2004-6 by Sean McCarthaigh.

A piece by Eddie Shaw, who used to be chairman of the now defunct National Safety Council.

An article by Shaun Connolly, political correspondent, which included a quote from Fine Geal transport spokesperson, Olivia Mitchell:

“We need a long and ruthless enforcement of the traffic laws if we are to change people’s habits…”

And an editorial entitled: “Blame lies at the door of Governement”.

You couldn’t ask for a more focussed campaign by a newspaper. On top of that came the news about the school bus tragedy.

I felt as if the whole country was united in concern about the carnage on our roads.

Then I turned to page 2 and found two statistics that stopped my in my tracks.

(1) Which kills more Irish people STROKES or ROAD ACCIDENTS?

(2) Which kills more Irish people PROSTATE CANCER or ROAD ACCIDENTS?

2,000 deaths from strokes and 520 deaths from prostate cancer.

Imagine, more men die from prostate cancer every year than all those who die from road accidents. I am a man. Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer are over 50. I am over 50. I am more likely to die from prostate cancer than driving. The Irish Cancer Society is campaigning.

“Prostate cancer is a silent cancer in that it does not receive the same attention politically and socially that other cancers do…” Christy Moore, songwriter, George Hook, rugby pundit, and Charlie Bird, journalist, are part of the campaign to make people aware that men can have a blood test to alert them to the cancer before they develop symptoms.

Prostate cancer is treatable, preventible. Road deaths?

Why?
Why are there not reporters at the bedside interviewing the family of people who die from prostate cancer? Why do we not have a daily count of the number of men who have died so far this year? Why do we not have photos of the dead, with their ages and counties?

What about those who will die today from a stroke? Are their deaths not at least as preventible as the deaths of those on our roads?

This is a painful thing to say but

ROAD DEATHS ARE SEXY

There is even a fantastically popular personality in position now as Czar for road safety. I was glad the Gay Byrne was appointed

Until I realised that the minister had outsourced the problem. The minister has now distanced the government from its Road Safety Strategy 2004-6. There won’t be any accountability for its almost total failure.

There is a final twist.

If you take account of the huge increase in cars and lorries on Irish roads in recent years, the number of deaths per vehicle is falling. From that point of view the situation is getting better. No doubt, clever civil servants are supplying the minister with this information. If you add in the fact that people are probaly driving more miles per vehicle, the deaths per driven mile are probably falling at a rate which satisfies those who take account of such statistics.

Meanwhile, in a small community of about 4 million people, every death on the roads is dramatic and tragic and leaves behind many damaged families and friends.

Those who die of prostate cancer and strokes have families too.

We need to maintain our perspective and work to improve what can be improved.