Pedestrians and cyclists ‘do not trust traffic lights’
Cyclists and pedestrians can no longer trust traffic lights in Galway City because motorists continue to drive through on red, a local senator has said.
Senator Pauline O’Reilly told a Galway City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting that enforcement was needed to change the behaviour of drivers who were driving through red traffic lights.
The Green Party senator said that the traffic light at the Aldi junction in Westside, along the Seamus Quirke Road (pictured), was well known for motorists driving through on red lights.
Cyclists and pedestrian had no confidence or trust that motorists would stop at red lights, she said.
Councillor Frank Fahy (FG), a taxi driver, agreed and said that motorists were not just travelling through lights that were amber or turning red, they were speeding up and going through red lights seconds after they had turned red, he said.
He said that the former Headford Road roundabout junction with the Quincentenary Bridge was particularly bad for that type of dangerous behaviour.
Tommy Flaherty, community member of the JPC, again asked if CCTV technology could be used at certain junctions to detect motorists driving through red lights.
He said if the JPC and Gardaí gave the green light for this technology, it would deter those skipping red lights.
There were 52 incidents of drivers failing to stop at traffic lights up to the end of May. It represented no change on the same period last year.
Speeding offences had increased by 4% to 2,129 during that period, and there were 319 parking offences, up 8%.
There were 17 pedal cycle offences up to the end of May, compared with 26 during the same period last year.