AN ANALYSIS OF 8,000 collisions on Irish roads over five years has mapped out the country’s hotspots on national primary and secondary routes.
The study, published in the Health Research Board’s Picture of Health 2012 today, not only confirmed ‘suspected’ black spots but also identified a number of new danger zones.
The data highlighted that around half of the collisions that occur at so-called hotspots involve multiple vehicles. Crashes are also more frequent in darkness.
Dr Erica Donnelly-Swift and Prof Alan Kelly from Trinity College Dublin, who led the research, hope that their method will be used to inform policies and preventative measures in the future.
“We developed a method to look at multiple hotspots along a network,” explained Dr Donnelly-Swift.
“And by using a systematic approach to look at alternative secondary hotspots, we identified the location of many hotspots along a particular stretch of road.
“Our findings and methods should inform policies and measures aimed at reducing the numbers of deaths and injuries from road-traffic collisions on national routes. Ultimately we hope this research will save lives by providing information on hotspots and a national perspective on road-traffic collisions.”
So far this year, 154 people have been killed on Irish roads. Although still high, the number is the lowest recorded by the Garda National Traffic Bureau.
Of those who lost their lives in 2012, twenty-three were pedestrians and eight were cyclists. The vast majority (78) were drivers in a vehicle, while 16 were motorcyclists. The remainder were either a passenger in a vehicle (25) or a passenger on a motorbike (4).
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