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easter
Drivers warned to be careful on the roads this Easter weekend
50 people have lost their lives on Irish roads to date – compared to 29 up to the same date last year.
6.30am, 15 Apr 2022
14.6k
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ROAD USERS ARE being urged to exercise caution during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, with the Gardaí and RSA warning that Ireland’s road deaths for the year are on course to double compared to last year.
There is a trend of more road crashes taking place on long weekends, possibly because there are more cars on the road.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána are issuing an urgent road safety appeal to all road users to slow down, wear seatbelts, not to drive when impaired, or distracted – particularly by illegally using your phone while driving – or when tired.
This Easter Bank Holiday Weekend drivers are being reminded that the RSA and participating Applegreen service stations are offering free cups of coffee to drivers to help combat driver fatigue – from 2-8pm today and on Easter Monday.
The safety appeal has been made after what the RSA called an “extremely worrying” increase in road deaths so far in 2022: provisional figures show that 50 people have lost their lives on Irish roads to date this year – compared to 29 up to the same date last year.
“This is 21 more unnecessary deaths and heartache for families and friends and represents an almost doubling of last year’s figure,” the RSA said.
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The number of arrests for drug driving up to 31 March 2022 is 768. This will also be a focus for Gardaí this weekend.
Analysis by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety shows that cannabis and cocaine remain the most detected drugs in drivers on Irish roads. In 2021, 57% of specimens tested for drugs contained cannabis, 31% contained cocaine and 14% contained benzodiazepines.
Hildegarde Naughton, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said:
Four people died and eight were seriously injured over the Easter bank holiday last year.
“That means as drivers, we have a responsibility to slow down, to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, never to use our phones or drive while tired, and always to ensure that everyone in our vehicle wears their seatbelt.”
Sam Waide, Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority, said if the current trend of increases in road fatalities continues, “we could end up losing 180 lives this year”.
Ireland is in danger of having the highest number of road fatalities in a decade. If we all act now and improve our behaviour on the road, collectively we can avoid this preventable loss of life.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman said that they are expecting “large numbers” to be travelling on our roads this Easter.
“Motorists should plan their journey and pay attention to other road users. We want everyone to stay safe and enjoy the holiday period. Remember that every decision you make on the road counts.”
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@barry moore: Yes. As a driver who’s around Dublin every day I’ve learned to become more patient with cyclists especially and give way where I can. For the life of me though I find it incredible the lack of self preservation that a lot of cyclists and pedestrians seem to have. It’s like a lot/some of them have an attitude of “I’m going where I want and it’s up to you as driver to avoid me” – mental stuff!!
@Merlin: Try being a cyclist encountering motorists with little or no observation or with a complete inability to look past the cyclist ahead of them who clearly have no idea how their manuvore or lack of spatial awareness will negatively impact the satefy of the cyclist.
“This is 21 more unnecessary deaths” Wow!! How insensitive is that sentence? 50 deaths so far this year means 50 unnecessary deaths, not just the extra 21 on last year.
So how many road deaths are a result of drugs? Is that the main cause? Or entry-level sensationalism in the form of ‘cushty’ statistics? Our elected officials are not offering any solution or any basic ideas that would benefit the transport network. Pretty often we see two HGVs stuck as a result of the roads not being wide enough, one reversing around a corner while a group of people on horses wait patiently with a queue of motorists and cyclists on the other side! But yea, pot heads out here wreaking havoc, ple ase.
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