Controversy over speed ramps races on

The ongoing standoff between Donegal County Council and some councillors regarding speed ramps and their effectiveness emerged during the council's last full meeting when Cllr Paul Canning asked if there any other county council in Ireland putting in ramps as a mechanism of slowing down traffic.

He was informed by the council's acting director of roads and transportation, Bryan Cannon that design guides recommend that a variety of interventions are considered at locations where it is intended to reduce traffic speeds along the road network. 

"Some of these interventions also have other impacts in addition to an impact on traffic speed. A non-exhaustive list of these interventions will include narrowing carriageways, horizontal and vertical deflections, shorter radii corners, carriageway edge treatment, gateway delineation, etc.

He added that in many cases it is recommended that a combination of these interventions are used in order to achieve the best outcomes.

"Vertical deflections which include ramps, but also include other interventions such as raised crossings, or raised junctions when used in combination with other interventions in an appropriate manner will reduce traffic speed and are in use in Donegal and other counties," said Mr Cannon

At the same meeting, Cllr Canning also asked if there had been any recorded accidents within the country caused entirely by a ramp.

The acting director of roads and transportation told him that information on traffic accident statistics is provided by An Garda Siochana (from scene records) to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

He added the council is granted access to these records by the RSA on a rolling basis a period of time after the accident has occurred to allow for the processing of the relevant data and the time allowed for legal cases that may follow. 

"The council does not research or review all accident records in the county but utilises the information available when considering a project, developing a scheme, or making a funding application when either the pattern or severity of the records warrant further investigation.

He added: "There may be accidents or incidents that result in either minor injury or material damage that are not reported to An Garda Siochana and, therefore, no such record exists. It is unlikely that the current accident record system is robust enough to provide a definitive answer to the question raised."