The founder of an organisation for the victims and families of road fatalities has described a drop in the number of gardaí in the traffic unit as “heartbreaking”.
Recent figures from the Department of Justice show the number of gardaí in the roads policing unit dropped by 60 from 692 to 632 between 2022 and 2023.
It comes as figures released for 2023 showed 184 people dying in road incidents, an almost 20 per cent increase on the previous year.
The fatality rate was the highest in almost a decade, with 1,250 suffering serious injuries by mid-December.
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According to Parc, all counties suffered a loss of gardaí policing the roads, except for Co Mayo, in 2023.
Parc founder Susan Gray accused An Garda Síochana management giving “so little priority” to road safety management.
“There are 104 less gardaí in roads policing now than there was in 2021 and the most worrying part is that the figure keeps dropping,” she said.
[ Mounting fatalities on Irish roads mark ‘horrendous and devastating’ 2023Opens in new window ]
“This will result in an increase in road deaths as one of the main deterrents needed to change driver behaviour is being removed.”
Ms Gray said that, in the absence of a visible Garda presence on Irish roads, drivers will continue to take chances.
“There is an urgent need for more gardaí to be assigned to roads policing units in 2024 or we may see another devastating year like 2023 or even worse,” she said.
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