COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, October 13, 2014

QUESTION NO. 30

QUESTION: Councillor D. O'Donovan

To ask the Chief Executive how many children have been injured in road traffic accidents within the county within the past five years.  How many of those accidents were in housing estates?  What is the speed limit in housing estates across the county and what constitutes a housing estate.  What is the scope for reducing the speed limit within housing estates? 

REPLY:

There is no breakdown of the number of children injured in road traffic collisions in South Dublin readily available however statistics are available on the RSA website from the year 2005 to 2012 These are reported on a full county basis and South Dublin is not considered separately. Analysis of vulnerable road users’ collisions (pedestrians and cyclist) during this period indicates that Dublin was in line with national figures, 1,365 serious and fatal collisions of which 26.6% (363) were in Dublin (27.7% of the National population). However it is also observed that in Dublin fatal collisions for vulnerable road users occurred in 21% of these collisions compared fatality incidence of 32% in such collisions nationally.

The default speed limit in a built up area is identified in legislation is 50 km/h and this applies to residential areas such as housing estates which have continuous frontage development. The speed limit bye laws currently in place in South Dublin County area provides for such a speed limit in the general built up area and higher speed limits on non-residential roads (where housing does not generally exit directly onto the road). There is provision legally to have a special speed limit of 30 km/h which is only recommended at specific locations. In South Dublin County Council area a 30 km/h speed limit applies at particular schools during school times where such a need exists particularly on the busier roads. It is not the norm at all schools and it is not certain that its provision in residential estates would necessarily produce the required reduction in speed. The control of speed in residential areas is better performed by the provision of traffic calming which has proved beneficial over the past 20 years.

Due to the many demands on the Council’s resources, the Council has only limited funding for the installation of traffic calming measures in 2014. The focus will be concentrating on spinal roads in residential areas. Discussions are taking place with the relevant Area Committees with a view to selecting four/five roads in each of the Council’s six electoral areas. As with previous traffic calming schemes, the selection of individual roads will be a matter for the relevant Area Committee. A number of such schemes have been provided in 2014