At the end of 2023, a grim year for deaths on Ireland’s roads, there was widespread concern that a downward trend witnessed over the last decade had been reversed.
The death toll of 71 in Northern Ireland represented the highest annual total since 2015. In the Republic, 184 people lost their lives, also up markedly on recent years.
Just three months into this year, and the alarming pattern appears to be continuing. Already 15 people have been killed on the north’s roads – up on both of the last two years – and there have been 57 fatalities south of the border, a third more than the same period in 2023.
The latest victims were a cyclist in Co Kildare yesterday morning and a 17-year-old boy hit by a car on the busy N17 in Co Mayo on Saturday night.
The collision in Mayo happened on the same stretch of road where Una Bowden (47) and her two young daughters, Ciara (14) and Saoirse (9), tragically lost their lives last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, there were emotional scenes at the final funeral yesterday of four young people killed in a devastating crash in Co Armagh last Sunday.
Marina Crilly (24), Phillip Mitchell (27), Keith Morrison (22) and Emma Mallon (22) all died when their car struck a tree in the early hours.
It is no coincidence that the recent spate of fatal crashes took place on rural roads.
The road network outside Ireland’s towns and cities, where speeds are higher and conditions more unpredictable, accounts for the large majority of deaths.
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Indeed, a report last week revealed that the Republic has one of the highest levels of deaths on rural roads in the EU. Average speeds were also found to be increasing, at a time when they are falling in many other countries.
The statistics make a strong argument for reducing standard 60mph or 100kmph limits on many roads. Just a few minutes added to journey times is surely a price worth paying when so many families are experiencing the agony of losing a loved one.
Fixed cameras and traffic-calming measures such as humps are commonly deployed in urban areas to reduce speed. Why not put the same focus on our dangerous rural road network?
Road improvements must also be prioritised by the new executive – work on Ireland’s most dangerous route, the A5 between Derry and the border at Aughnacloy, should begin without delay
And education, as ever, remains vital in delivering the message that driving too fast, without full attention or under the influence of alcohol or drugs can have devastating consequences. Every one of us who takes to the road each day has a part to play.
