Donegal driving dangers revealed in new report

Young motorists in Donegal should take extra care today because they will be driving on the most dangerous day of the week in the most perilous county in the State as the most deadly month of the year comes to an end, new research indicates.

Analysis of claims made to the Injuries Board in 2012 also found that women are slightly more likely than men to have to make a claim, although the gap between the sexes narrowed by 1 per cent last year and now stands at 51 per cent - 49 per cent.

Injuries sustained in the vast majority of cases involve the neck, back and fractures of various limbs, while 70 per cent of all claims involved cars.

The Injuries Board delivered compensation of €157.2 million for motor liability awards last year, up just over 2 per cent on the previous year, with the average award coming in at just over €20,000.

Awards linked to car incidents account for 75 per cent of all personal injury awards processed last year, with 104 claims for fatal road incidents involving motorists, passengers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians, down 10 per cent on 2011.

It won’t come as much of a surprise to learn that older road users are safer road users, with only 4 per cent of awards going those aged over 65 and 7.5 per cent being made to those in the 55-64 age group.

The news is not so encouraging for younger motorists, however, and more than one in four awards were made to people aged between 25 and 34 - while the 35 to 44 category accounted for just over 20 per cent of awards.

While Friday is the most dangerous day on Irish roads in terms of the number of awards being made, and Sunday the least dangerous, the traffic incidents which take place on Sundays are likely to be more severe and they accounted for the highest average award across the week at €22,657.

Donegal recorded the highest number of claims, followed by Cork , Dublin, Kildare and Limerick, while Leitrim, Kilkenny and Roscommon had the lowest.