Galway Advertiser 2008/GA_2008_02_28/GA_2802_E1_015.pdf 

Extracted text

February 28 2008

www.galwayadvertiser.ie

R 15

Rest areas must be provided on new N6 -- Connaughton
BY UNA SINNOTT Dep Paul Connaughton has called on the National Road Authority to provide `safe areas' for drivers experiencing fatigue on the new N6. Deputy Connaughton, who is vice chairman of the Oireachtas transport committee, said this week that it was vitally important that drivers be given every opportunity to safely pull into either serviced or unserviced lay-bys along interurban routes where they could take a nap when feeling tired. The Galway East deputy made his comments at the weekly committee meeting, also attended by the Garda Commissioner and RSA CEO Noel Brett. He said the NRA had indicated at a previous meeting that it has no plans for such `safe havens' on the new N6 dual carriageway. However Mr Brett told the meeting that the NRA has indicated it will provide serviced rest areas along the route. He agreed with Dep Connaughton that driver fatigue was now a major factor in road accidents. "It is not just driver fatigue," Mr Brett said. "There is also the matter of being able to stop to take a phone call, use a toilet, change driver, or have a rest. The board of the RSA considered the matter of whether these areas should be fitted on the new inter-urban routes. We wrote to the National Roads Authority and received a reply last week, enclosing a map of areas in which serviced rest areas will be provided. I have asked about unserviced rest areas. "We want to see safe and appropriate areas for going to the toilet or changing a wheel to get people off the edge of the carriageway," Mr Brett added. "In the UK it is estimated that one's survival time on the edge of a motorway before being rear-ended is less than 10 minutes. The hard shoulder is not a safe place to be and in fog or adverse weather conditions other drivers will instinctively follow the red lights of someone stopped on a motorway. People follow a car onto the hard shoulder and rear-end it. I share Deputy Connaughton's concerns about the need to have regular, appropriate, safe serviced and unserviced areas. Where such areas exist in towns and villages I would like to see them re-opened. There are local issues that explain why gantries are in place but we must balance local issues with safety. We need a place to use the road safely.

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