Road deaths rise this year despite cut in traffic volumes, CSO report finds

There were eleven additional fatalities on Irish roads during the first nine months of 2020 compared with the same time last year, despite a significant drop in traffic volume during the spring and in recent weeks, the Central Statistics Office has said.

The latest CSO data shows traffic volumes dropped by more than 51 per cent in Dublin during the final week of October compared with the same period last year.

Nationwide there was a 55.4 per cent drop in traffic over the same period.

At the end of October 2020 125 people had died on Irish roads by up from 114 deaths at the same time last year, the CSO said.

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When the first week of November is included, 126 people have died on Irish roads, including 26 pedestrians, 50 drivers, 23 vehicle passengers, 17 motorcyclists and ten cyclists, according to An Garda Síochána.

Despite the reduction in the volume of cars on Irish roads, heavy goods vehicle traffic during 2020 has exceeded 2019 levels and is up 4 per cent in Dublin during the final week of October, after the Level 5 restrictions came into effect.

Traffic levels in the final week of October were still significantly higher than during the first lockdown period when the volume of vehicles on Irish roads dropped more than 70 per cent.

The CSO Transport Bulletin, published on Friday, also shows the number of journeys taken by bus and rail fell by nearly 37 per cent during the final week of October when compared with the previous seven days and following the introduction of Level 5 restrictions.

Public transport use is now at a quarter the level before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rail travel has been the hardest hit, with train passenger numbers dropping 97 per cent last April.

Journeys by train, including Intercity and Dart services, during the final week of October were nearly 87 per cent lower than pre-Covid-19 levels.

The number of people travelling on the Luas has also significantly fallen, with a drop of 81.5 per cent on the Green line and 78.3 per cent on the Red line during the final week of October compared with numbers during the same period in 2019.

The level of diesel fuel excise clearances dropped nearly 15 per cent during the first nine months of 2020 when compared with last year indicating a drop in sales and the associated level of consumption.

The number of new licensed cars dropped by nearly 28 per cent during the first nine months of the year when compared with 2019 figures.

However, there was an annual increase of 40 per cent in the number of new cars licensed during September.

The number of new hybrid and electric cars licensed between January and September grew by nearly 13 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, although from a low base.

The number of cyclists in Dublin during peak hours remains nearly 54 per cent lower than during the same time last year.

However, the volume of cyclists during off-peak hours has remained close or exceeded 2019 levels with numbers in Dublin rising nearly one per cent during October.

Just 7.5 million people passed through Irish airports during the first nine months of 2020, a drop of three quarters or 22 million on the 2019 numbers. Numbers in September remained low with just 430,627 people travelling by air in September, a drop of nearly 88 per cent on the same time last year.

All Irish airports have suffered badly during the pandemic. Shannon airport has seen the highest drop in numbers closely followed by Knock airport, then Cork Airport, Dublin Airport and Kerry Airport.