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IRISH ROAD AUTHORITIES have called on the public to take care on the highways and byways for the coming month.

Per official Road Safety Authority (RSA) statistics covering the last three years, July is the worst month on Irish roads as far as fatal accidents are concerned.

July is joined by ‘Sundays’ and ‘between 6 and 8pm’ as the most dangerous time to be on our roads.

“The seasonal increase in fatalities during the month of July is a clear warning to us all that we cannot afford to be complacent,” says Noel Gibbons, road safety officer with Mayo County Council.

I would appeal to all road users to take personal responsibility for their actions and to make this July the safest one yet.

Why is July so deadly? Gibbons attributes it to a number of factors:

• Increased holiday and tourist traffic
• Increased speeds due to fine weather
• Glare caused by a low sun
• More young drivers on the roads
• More seasonal sporting events

We can only hope that this month will buck the trend.

So far in 2016 there have been 84 fatalities on Irish roads (as of 28 June), an increase of 14 on 2015. Just under 50% of those were drivers.

Ten people died overall on Irish roads during June 2016.

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