Emergency medicine doctors have called on the Government to take urgent action to stop the “carnage” on the State’s roads following a rise in deaths in recent years.
A total of 190 people died as a result of road incidents last year, the highest figure for more than a decade. The number of road deaths so far this year, 52, is running at a similar rate to this time last year, according to figures from An Garda Síochána.
The Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) said the State target of having no more than 72 annual road deaths by 2030 is “now frighteningly off course”.
The organisation said it was “of major concern” that the number of road deaths in Ireland had risen “by 31 per cent since 2019 while the EU average actually fell by 12 per cent”.
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“Nearly half of those killed [in 2025] were vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists). Cyclist deaths were at their highest since 2017 with motorcyclist deaths their highest since 2007,” it said in a statement.
“As the doctors staffing Ireland’s emergency departments, we see at first hand this carnage. Every week we treat patients who sustain ultimately fatal injuries or have been seriously injured.
“Behind every death are many more who survive with catastrophic injuries that leave permanent disability and often require years of rehabilitation. The true burden of road trauma on the health system is far greater than the fatality count might suggest.”
The association said it endorsed the five key demands from the Stop Road Deaths campaign, stating these were “not aspirational” and were “specific, evidence-based reforms”.
Among the demands is the appointment of a statutory road safety commissioner with the authority, budget and legal mandate to deliver the 2030 target; the deployment of automated speed cameras on high-risk routes within 12 months; and mandatory black spot redesign to fix the 50 highest-risk road sections identified by crash data.
It also called for a restoration of Garda road policing numbers back to 2014 levels, and for parliamentary accountability by requiring every TD to state publicly whether they support these reforms
“The Safe System Approach adopted in principle by the Irish Government and endorsed by the World Health Organisation holds that no one should die or be seriously injured using the road network. That principle is meaningless without institutional mechanisms to deliver it,” the association said.
“Ireland needs the political will to take the necessary steps our Scandinavian colleagues have taken. IAEM therefore calls on the Government to stop regarding road traffic deaths as inevitable tragedies and instead do what is required to make Ireland’s roads safe for all.”
The Government has brought in a number of measures in recent years aimed at reducing road deaths, including a reduction in speed limits on rural and local roads, with further such reductions due to be introduced next year.
It also announced plans to reform the Road Safety Authority rather than proceeding with an independent recommendation to disband the organisation and split its work between two new agencies.
