ROAD DEATHS HAVE gone up by almost 25% so far this year compared to the same period last year.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and gardaí said earlier this month that years of road safety progress “is being undone” as new figures revealed that road deaths in the first half of 2023 were the worst for six years.

Gardaí and the RSA this week issued further warnings to motorists and passengers after eight people died in three separate road traffic collisions since last Friday, including two children aged 3 years old.

Four people died in a tragic crash in Clonmel, Co Tipperary last Friday night.

18-year-olds Grace McSweeney, Zoey Coffey and Nicole Murphy were heading to a Leaving Cert results celebration event and were being driven by Luke McSweeney, aged 24, when the incident happened. 

On Tuesday this week, Tom O’Reilly (48), his wife Bridget O’Reilly (45) and their grandson Tommy O’Reilly all lost their lives in a crash shortly when a car they were passengers in hit a wall in the Windmill Knockbulloge area of Cashel.

And on Wednesday afternoon a three-year-old died after being hit by a car in Co Laois.

Speaking to reporters this week, Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty warned motorists that using the road “is probably the most dangerous thing you will do on any given day”.

“We ask everybody to please take care on the roads,” he said.

When asked what had caused the increase in road deaths this year, Geraghty said there had been an increase in the number of collisions where there had been multiple fatalities.

Geraghty also provided an overview of the latest statistics on road injuries and garda enforcement. He said gardaí had carried out 27,000 checkpoints so far this year, and had detected 5,100 people driving over the influence of drugs or alcohol and 105,000 people breaking the speed limit.

He said that over 12,500 people been issued with fixed charge penalty notices for using their phone while driving. But how do these stats measure up with previous years?

Death and serious injury

A total of 125 people have died on Irish roads so far this year, an increase of 24 (just under 25%) compared with the same period last year, and 38 more than the same period in 2019.

In total, 156 people died on Irish roads last year, which was up 19 on 2021, when 137 people died. The previous year (2020), 146 people died on Irish roads. In 2019 the number was 140. 

The year with the lowest ever recorded fatalities was 2018, with 135 deaths. In general, according to RSA figures, deaths on Irish roads have been dropping significantly over the decades. In 2007, for example, 338 people died on Irish roads.

The year with highest recorded deaths is 1972, when 640 people died on Irish roads.

While deaths are up this year, latest figures from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show that up to 23 July, there were 649 serious injuries on Irish roads. This is 163 fewer serious injuries compared to the same period last year, a drop of 20%.

However, an RSA spokesperson said that data in serious injuries usually lags behind the figures for deaths, as they take longer to report. This means that the half year figure may not give an accurate picture of how many serious injuries there have been.

A serious injury is an injury for which a person must receive hospital treatment, or where they suffer fractures, concussion, internal injuries, crushing, severe cuts and lacerations, and/or severe general shock requiring medical treatment.

Last year, a total of 1,292 people suffered serious injuries, compared to 1,360 in 2021. In 2019, 1,506 people were seriously injured in road traffic accidents.

Garda enforcement 

Meanwhile, garda enforcement figures relating fixed penalties and driver arrests over the past number of years have been broadly similar, with an increase in fixed penalty notices for speeding.

Speaking this week, Superintendent Geraghty said speed is “key feature in any road traffic collision”.

So the basic message will be to people to slow down.

Geraghty said that 105,000 people have been detected speeding so far this year. Gardaí issued close to 166,000 fixed charge notices for speeding last year, and close to 180,000 in 2021. This is compared to just 136,000 in 2018, a significant increase.

Geraghty also said that over 12,500 people have been issued with fixed charge notices this year for using their phones while driving. Last year, a total of 18,612 people issued with notices for using their phones. The number has been dropping steadily in recent year. In 2018, 31,174 were issued with such notices.

The Road Safety Authority 

Figures in relation to deaths and injuries on Irish roads are compiled and released by gardaí and the Road Safety Authority. The RSA was established in 2006 and has a goal of making Irish roads safer.

Within this remit, the RSA has responsibilities around road safety promotion, education and awareness, and carrying out road safety and collision research.

It also has primary responsibility as the lead agency for the governance and implementation of the government’s Road Safety Strategy, and is responsible for driver testing and driver licensing.

The authority’s budget has increased significantly since the Celtic Tiger years, largely driven by a rise in income from sources such as driving tests and registration of driving instructors.

Annual reports show that grants given to the RSA by the Department of Transport reached a peak in 2008, when it received €40 million in direct State funding – a huge proportion of the authority’s entire €58 million income that year.

The grant was gradually wound down in the years that followed and was replaced by an Oireachtas grant worth just €139,000 from 2015 to 2020.

But as direct government funding has decreased, the RSA’s income from other sources – including fees for driving tests, licence renewals, and the NCT – has exploded.

According to its accounts, the authority made €83 million via ‘other’ sources in 2021, up from €63 million in 2020, though both those numbers were down on the pre-pandemic figure of €95 million it received from ‘other’ sources in 2019.

In 2019, it took in more than €50 million in driving test fees and via the NCT levy combined, as well as a further €25 million through fees paid for driving licences.

The authority’s incomings in 2021 – the last year for which figures are available – are broadly the same as what they were in 2015, even accounting for a drop during Covid.

Annual reports show the RSA reported a total income of €80.7 million in 2015 and €87 million in 2021.

With reporting from Stephen McDermott and Press Association