Online reporting of dangerus driving.

I'm confused……..What has AI got to do with the new portal? The advent of AI has nothing to do with the discussion, if the new portal wasn't introduced then the impact on drivers would be the same, the evidence is still being submitted. The only difference with my suggestion is that the evidence is submitted much, much sooner.

For the record, I think your concerns are ridiculous, we are a long, long way away from being able to spoof footage of someone holding a phone or whatever. I'd say we're closer to dashcams coming as standard piece of equipment with all cars than we are to your scenario.

Your black box would be able to tell if a driver was speeding, alright. But what else would it be able to tell? How would it curb red light breakers? or Dangerous overtakes? Or pulling out in front of learner drivers etc? The obsession with speed in this country is outrageous, to the detriment of society IMO. Someone doing 4 or 5 km/h over the speed limit but obeys all other traffic laws is a much safer and better driver than someone who's under the limit but taking the piss with phone use or lane-hopping or overtaking on the hard-shoulder etc.

Are we a long way away from videos being spoofed??? I'm not so sure…….

The obsession with speed is probably due to the fact that over 40% of fatal accidents are as a result of speed? Speeding is a major problem particularly on back roads.

I agree 4/5kph over the speed limit is not much but many road users do way more with no punishment - particularly on back roads where there is no enforcement yet statistically they are much more dangerous than motorways.

My suggestion re black box puts the bulk of the onus on behaviour rather than enforcements.

For the record, I fully support this portal. No system can enforce everything but if it is initiated it has to have actual teeth and not just be a waste of time for Gardai. For example if you record me running a red light and submit it to the portal then provided the footage is verified I should be getting a fine and penalty points, but lets face it its useless without video evidence.

You said you're sure AI can easily add your car into a video. It cannot. It can't even get fingers correct, never mind replicating your face behind the wheel of your car with your reg plate visible. We're miles away from that type of scenario.

40% of fatal accidents aren't 'caused by speed'. 40% of fatal accidents have speeding as one of, if not the largest, contributing factors. If someone pulls out in front of you suddenly, without warning, while you're under the limit and you plough into the side of them and kill them…..that's not caused by your speed. If you were going slower, they might have survived. Therefore, the speed of your car is a mitigating factor in their death. Doesn't mean you caused it, just that speed was a factor. So it goes into your 40% statistic, even though the only way to ensure speed WASN'T a factor would be to force everyone to drive at 15km/h.

Speed is also one of the only factors that can be determined with any degree of certainty after the event. You can't tell if the dead guy who crashed his car into the pole was tired, or distracted, or a shite driver, or fell asleep, or swerved to avoid something etc. You can tell he would have survived the crash if he was going slower but you can't tell why he crashed half the time. So, into the 40% stats he goes. What if he fell asleep and leaned on the accelerator? Suddenly he's doing 70 in a 50 zone, but, in reality, he was obeying the speed limit up until he started spitting zeds. The accident wasn't caused by speed, but you bet your ass that's how it'll be recorded.

It's low hanging fruit and easily enforceable and, coincidentally, a money-spinner. That's why we focus on speed in this country and pretty much nothing else when it comes to road enforcement.

And what about non-fatal accidents? Where's the stats on them? It's been 18 years since we've had more than 1 road death per day, on average. Last year we had one every two days, which was the lowest in a decade. How many non-fatal accidents occur each day? Hundreds? Thousands? Why isn't there any effort to reduce them? Surely if you can get everyone to be better at the small stuff, the major stuff will reduce also?

The new process will make absolutely no difference except now you aren't ringing a call centre

Ah, I suspected as much @Seth Brundle ,thanks for the insight.

I've heard that asking in the Garda station for a pulse number for your 'case' is a good way to ensure that your complaint is at least recorded. Would they normally issue one or do you have to press them for it, in your experience? Or am I getting mixed up?

A complete waste of Garda time. Another trick to try and say something is being done about road safety .

The busy body will still be required to attend court where he or she will be eaten alive after three or four adjournments