Rise in road deaths in west sparks Garda concern

GARDAÍ HAVE expressed serious concern over a rise in road deaths in the west over the past two years which runs contrary to the downward trend nationally.

Single-vehicle crashes involving male drivers in random locations constituted the largest number of fatalities in the region last year, Assistant Commissioner John O’Mahoney of the Garda National Traffic Bureau said in Oranmore, Co Galway, yesterday.

Some 20 per cent of drivers killed on roads in the Garda Western Region (comprising Mayo, Roscommon/Longford, Galway and Clare) had not been wearing seatbelts. Overall deaths in the region had risen from a low in 2010, he noted. Of the 35 deaths on Irish roads so far this year, 13 were in the west and seven were in the Galway area.

Mr O’Mahoney sympathised with the grief of families of 186 victims who died on roads across the State in 2011, and said “too many lives” had been lost, while “too many families have suffered”.

He was outlining details with Assistant Commissioner Jack Nolan of Operation Focus, a 24-hour operation in separate locations over a five-week period designed to raise awareness of road safety. The operation aims to highlight enforcement to prevent speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, dangerous driving, non-use of seatbelts and use of mobile phones while driving.

Mr O’Mahoney said gardaí did not intend to “pounce” on drivers during the 24 hours of the operation, involving over 20 patrol cars and 40 gardaí and 180 mandatory alcohol test checkpoints across 22 Garda districts.

Speeding in 80km/h and 100km/h zones had been identified as a major factor in fatalities in the west, Mr Nolan said, while lack of seatbelt use had occurred in front and back seats of vehicles.

Pedestrians on unlit or poorly lit roads were at higher risk, while there had been a significant number of incidents involving motorcyclists.

Mr Nolan said he would appeal to pedestrians to wear high- visibility clothing, and to motorcyclists to stay within speed limits and observe the rules of the road.

The number of people killed on Irish roads has been decreasing since 2005, with fewer than 200 people dying in 2011 – the lowest figure since records began in 1959.

In the west, collisions in which a person died fell from 50 in 2007 to 26 in 2010, but began rising again last year with 31 deaths.

Arrests relating to alcohol use have fallen, with 2,318 drivers detected as being under the influence of alcohol in the west in 2007 compared to 1,295 in 2011.

Cases of speeding rose dramatically, from 4,368 cases involving non-interception detection in 2007 to 26,131 camera detections in 2011. This is part of a national trend due to safety cameras. Detection of drivers using mobile phones rose from 3,287 cases in the west in 2007 to 4,474 in 2011.