Road deaths for this year likely to be lowest on record

THE NUMBER of deaths on the roads this year is likely to be the lowest recorded, according to new projections. To date in 2009, 205 people have been killed, 45 fewer than last year. Insurance company AXA predicted yesterday the number of people killed on Irish roads this year could dip below 250 for the first time since records began in 1959.

That figure is nearly 100 fewer than in 2007 when 339 people died on Irish roads. This would put Ireland in the top five nations in Europe in terms of road safety.

The introduction of random breath testing and greater driver awareness has seen the number of those killed on the roads plummet in recent years.

At the launch of AXA’s European survey, the company’s head of corporate affairs Paul Maloney said Ireland was now being held up as a role model by other countries trying to pursue a successful road safety strategy. In recent months, the Road Safety Authority has hosted delegations from Wales, Finland, Bulgaria and Israel and a teleconference with Victoria state in Australia.

The Victoria model of road safety was studied by the Government before it embarked on the five-year road safety strategy in 2007.

“We have gone from being one of the worst in European road accidents to one of the best,” Mr Maloney said.

“This has been noted by other countries.”

Garda Derek Cloughley from the Garda Road Safety Unit said there had been “massive improvements” in road safety in recent years, although there were still too many people dying on Irish roads. The AXA survey, which questioned 800 people in Ireland, found that 83 per cent were in favour of a zero alcohol limit against a European average of 68 per cent.

AXA Ireland chief executive John O’Neill said half of all the 100 biggest claims it was dealing with were drink-related and the company had a “strong view” that introducing a zero alcohol limit would reduce the number of those killed on Irish roads to about 150.

He said the Fianna Fáil politicians who had objected to the attempt by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to lower the drink-driving limit were out of step with the thinking of the public.

“I have never heard such a load of absolute rubbish,” Mr O’Neill added. “It is interesting that people who make those crazy statements look crazy even to their constituents, when 80 per cent of drivers knew that if you have had a drink, your driving will be impaired.”