THE ROAD SAFETY Authority (RSA) today released their mid-year stats which have shown that 89 people died on Irish roads up to July 28 this year – an increase of 7% compared to 2018. 

The review shows 89 people lost their lives in 80 collisions. This represents 3% more collisions and 7% more deaths compared to provisional garda data for the same period in 2018.

The number of people who have died on Irish roads has increased by six compared to 2018. 49 drivers, 10 passengers, 15 pedestrians, nine motorcyclists and 6 cyclists have been killed.

January and February were the worst months for road fatalities with 16 deaths in each month.

Speaking at the launch of the review outside Store Street garda station, chairperson for the RSA, Liz O’Donnell, said that it is vital that enforcement continues to be high on the roads. 

She said: “Looking to the rest of the year it is vital that we don’t lose focus on the need for greater enforcement to tackle the main killer behaviours on the road. Key to this is the appropriate resourcing and investment in the roads policing unit.”

Assistant Commissioner David Sheehan, addressing the media at Store Street, said that Sunday was still the most common day for someone to die in a collision with 21 people having lost their lives on that day so far this year. The next most common day was Friday with 17 people having died on that day in 2019. 

Dublin had the highest number of fatalities for all road users with nine followed by Tipperary on eight and Cork on seven.

Detections

In his presentation this afternoon, Assistant Commissioner Sheehan said that detections of various driving offences had increased significantly when compared to last year. 

Over 13,540 people were found to be using their phones between January and May of this year – an increase of 1,290 or 11% overall. 

Over 9,000 more people have been pulled over by gardaí for speeding compared to the same period last year – an increase of 48%. The number of people caught by GoSafe vans also increased by 10%.