You might not think that our current Minister for Transport is a person who just keeps on giving but to me he comes through every time. Whenever I am casting around for something to write about I take up the paper and look for anything Ross and there it is. His latest escapade is in relation to the abandonment of the Road Traffic (Minimum Passing Distance of Cyclists ) Bill which has had to be abandoned due to advice from the Attorney General that it is unenforceable.
There are two aspects of this debacle that are classic Ross. The first is that he believes that by merely passing legislation he solves a problem and in this case silences those irritating cyclists who keep pestering him about cyclists safety. Secondly, he ignored the research paper produced by the Road Safety Authority who found,” limited evidence to support the implementation of minimum passing distances legislation.”(Irish Times, 01/01/19) He must also have ignored ‘the dogs in the street’ who knew when it was first muted that it was totally impractical. Much head shaking accompanied the original proposal with locals measuring roads that barley allowed the passage of a horse and cart, much less than today’s 4 x 4. Having said this, why on earth did it take the State Attorney General to point out the obvious?
I would guess that Department of Transport officials have given up on Ross and left him in his own world where problems are solved by proclamation and not hard work. I suspect that it also goes for his Cabinet colleagues who are quite prepared for him to make a fool of himself. I have written before about the shambles that are the Road Traffic Acts and the whole system that needs to be overhauled but Minister Ross shows little inclination to tackle these failures. Perhaps in the forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle, Leo could appoint someone who is really concerned about the brief and send Ross to the board of RTE where he can do little harm.
Reference: The Irish Times, 01/01/19, David Labanyi, New Laws on Drivers Overtaking Cyclists Abandoned.