SPEEDING AND MOBILE phone use by drivers are some of the main contributing factors to serious road crashes over the past year, according to a senior garda.

Gardaí have appealed to appeal to drivers to comply with speed limits in order to reduce the number of speed related collisions, save lives and reduce injuries.

As part of an appeal by gardaí, they marked National Slow Down Day this morning off the M9 near Danesfort, Co Kilkenny.

The location and surrounding region has been hit by a number of “horrific” road fatalities in recent weeks, according to Garda Inspector Paul Donohoe from Kilkenny’s roads policing unit.

Donohoe said speed remains “a major contributing factor” to all road fatalities.

“We’re always asking people to slow down and drive within the speed limits. You don’t have to drive at 100km per hour,” Donohoe told reporters.

“You drive whatever in the weather conditions, the traffic conditions and keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. That all reduces the risk of a collision and possible injury or fatality.”

He added: “We’d always say that speed is a major contributing factor to a really high proportion of fatalities.”

Driving without a seatbelt or while using a mobile phone were cited as areas of concern by gardaí.

According to Garda data, there were 19,000 detections last year for motorists using a mobile phone while driving. There were also 5,500 detections made last year for people driving without a seatbelt.

Road deaths

According to garda figures, 37 people have died on Irish roads this year.

Last year had the highest number of deaths in almost a decade, with 184 people killed, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Of this year’s fatalities, 27 were either a driver or passenger in a car. A further seven were pedestrians, two were motorcyclists and one was a cyclist.

Examples of high speeds detected by gardaí include a motorist doing 91km/h in a 50km/h zone on the Dock Road, Limerick and another caught doing 115km/h in an 80km/h zone on the N4 in Palmerston in Dublin 22.

One driver was also detected speeding at up to 142km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N11 in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow.

Outlining the impact on families and communities when a serious road crash occurs, Donohoe said there had been a number of serious crashes which had cost the lives of several young people.

This morning’s briefing took place a short distance away from where one young man, Josh Dineen, lost his life in a single-vehicle crash on the N10 in Foulkstown in the early hours of Saturday 17 February.

This incident and others referenced by gardaí this morning remain under investigation and no cause has been established by a coroner.

“We’ve seen it first hand in this division, we’re not even finished February and we’ve had horrific accidents in Carlow and another on this road in Kilkenny, and another in Waterford. All young lives lost,” Donohoe said.

“We’re always thinking of the family and what they’re going through and one accident was more horrific than the other in this division.”

He added that gardaí wanted people to hear the message that they needed to slow down, drive within speed limits and at a safe distance from the the car in front.

“We want people to have a bit of thought about all the lives we’ve lost on the roads this year and maybe they’ll think that if they slow down, they’ll help and contribute in the fight against losing lives.”