Ignoring accident blackspots will not make them go away

That’s according to Ballinasloe area councillor Declan Geraghty (Ind) who told a meeting last week that ignoring the problem is an option.

The Williamstown councillor and businessman said that the more complaints there are about a particular dangerous stretch of road, the more chance it will be improved or upgraded.

“If people report accidents, then it increases the chance for stretches of road to be included in a programme for improvement,” said Cllr Geraghty.

“There are many dangerous blackspots across the road network in Galway that funding cannot be secured to fix because many accidents aren’t being reported,” he added.

He raised the matter at a meeting of Galway County Council, claiming that in order for the local authority to secure funding for safety works, a blackspot must be supported by statistics.

“If motorists are having minor accidents on the likes of slippy surfaces or sharp bends and failing to report them, the local authority has far less power to take action,” he said.

“It would rectify a bad surface on a road if matters are reported. It’s so important that people do that.

“It is a statistic and the more statistics we have, the greater chance we have of getting funding for works to be carried out. That is the secret.

“It is all about solving the problems with road safety. I have knowledge of a crossroads where there have been four accidents every year but only two have been reported in total.

“I went looking for funding to carry out safety measures at this crossroads but I was told that there were no accidents there.

“If it is not being reported that we are getting nothing to carry out safety measures,” added Cllr Geraghty.

Pictured: Cllr Declan Geraghty.