Annual Report 2009(PDF) - Road Safety Authority

The co-ordinated enforcement effort is designed to:
• Enforce key road safety legislation requirements at
strategic points of the road transport network near
ports and border crossings;
• Track the road safety performance of the road transport
industry involved in cross border journeys;
• Monitor the effectiveness of enforcement activities;
• Increase awareness of the rules on driving times, breaks
and rest periods, as well as tachograph requirements;
• Remove unsafe drivers from the roads through
prohibitions.
• Enhance use of resources and increase deterrence.
Strategic aspects
The aim of the RSA enforcement strategy is to improve
operators’ compliance with EU and national road transport
legislation concerned with road safety and therefore
contributing to the RSA’s mission of saving lives on the
roads. This strategy is kept under ongoing review. The
enforcement approach is intended to increase road safety by
improving operator and driver compliance with the rules on
driving times, breaks and rest periods, and tachograph
requirements. Drivers’ work and rest hours are regulated to
avoid driver fatigue. Driver fatigue impairs a driver’s
cognitive and motor performance by slowing reaction times,
reducing attention to the external driving environment and
disrupting driving skills.
Enforcing the legislation on operator licensing is also a key
component of the range of legislation being enforced by the
RSA. Training of enforcement personnel on new legal
requirements and best practice in relation to enforcement is
a priority for the RSA.
During 2009, the RSA strengthened its strong working
relationship with An Garda Síochána in relation to road
transport enforcement activities. The overall strategy put in
place in relation to checks targets enforcement efforts on
non-compliant operators while minimising inconvenience to
law-abiding operators.
The EU Directive 2006/22/EC deals with the enforcement of
tachograph and drivers’ hours’ rules and obliges Member
States to carry out a minimum number of roadside and
premises checks per annum. Provisional data indicates that
the State will exceed the overall target for 2009. It also
requires Member States to develop a risk rating system for
transport undertakings based on the relative number and
severity of any infringements of the drivers’ hours and
tachograph regulations that an individual undertaking has
committed. Rated operators are classified according to a
colour coded system – Red, Amber, Green - respectively
representing “Very Serious” “Serious” and “Minor” risk - on
the basis of their relative compliance performance.
Operators with a high risk rating will be subject to more
frequent and intensive checks both at premises and at
roadside checks. The RSA has developed such a risk system
and it will be further developed in 2010.
The various enforcement, educational and advisory
measures being implemented by the RSA are designed to
meet the Road Safety Strategy goals 2007 - 2012.
Legislative Developments
Work on updating the European Communities Working
Conditions and Road Safety Regulation 2008 began in 2009
and is still underway. The RSA also initiated the drafting of
new legal provisions to give effect to EU Directives 4 and 5 of
2009 concerning the conduct of enforcement activities in
relation to the regulation of drivers’ hours and tachographs.
In addition, the RSA, in consultation with An Garda
Síochána, prepared new legal provisions to establish a single
report form to be used by members of An Garda Síochána to
record enforcement activities relating to tachographs,
drivers’ hours and technical roadside checks. The RSA also
submitted proposals for new legal provisions to provide for
the mutual recognition of tachograph exemptions that apply
in Ireland, UK and Northern Ireland. In addition, the RSA
liaised with the Department of Transport on the
development of a fixed penalty charge system in relation to
road transport-related offences and the associated complex
legal issues which must be addressed prior to the
introduction of any such system.
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