Road deaths down 9% on last year

Some 90 people lost their lives on Irish roads during the first six months of the year, according to the latest figures from An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

This represents a 9 per cent reduction on road fatalities for the same period last year when 99 people died.

The figures showed road deaths involving drivers, passengers and pedestrians were substantially down on the same period in 2010.

Driver deaths, which typically represent half of all road deaths, fell from 49 in 2010 to 45 this year, a drop of 8 per cent. The number of pedestrian deaths has also fallen from 24 to 20, a 16 per cent decrease.

However, the number of motorcyclists and cyclists killed on the roads has increased.

Eight motorcyclists were killed on the roads since the beginning of the year, one more than the same period last year and two cyclists died, compared to none last year.

April saw the lowest road deaths ever recorded in a single month with nine lives lost.

Road deaths in May, typically a high risk month because of the bank holiday weekend, were 60 per cent lower this year with 11 deaths compared to 28 in 2010.

Gardaí said two in five of all road deaths take place between Friday midnight and Sunday midnight.

Despite this reduction, both agencies said the number of young people dying on the roads remained a cause for “significant concern”.

One third (30) of road users killed to date were aged between 16 and 25 .

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said: “The Government road safety strategy 2007 to 2012 set a goal for no more than 21 lives lost on our roads per month by 2012.

“This target was achieved two years running, in 2009 and 2010, which had the lowest number of road deaths ever recorded. Now we are asking every road user to set their own personal target to keep up this life-saving behaviour and prevent needless deaths on our roads,” he said.

“It’s not impossible. If we continue the behaviour we have seen over the past six months, we could save as many as 30 lives this year.”

The RSA urged road users to “redouble their efforts to prevent further suffering and tragedy as a result of deaths on our roads”.

RSA chairman Gay Byrne said: “The people of Ireland have shown what can be achieved when road safety is prioritised. But our work is far from over. 90 lives have been lost on our roads so far this year in unnecessary, preventable tragedies. Even more tragic is the number of young people still being killed on our roads.”

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said: "Gardaí are working closely with our partner agencies to further reduce deaths and serious injury and we will continue to target our enforcement activity at areas where fatalities are more likely to occur.