October most dangerous month on roads, finds study

OCTOBER is the most dangerous month of the year and Friday the most dangerous day of the week on Irish roads, a survey of injury awards has found.

The data, taken from an analysis by InjuriesBoard.ie of almost 10,000 personal injury awards in 2006 and 2007, revealed that more motor accidents occurred in October than in any other month of the year, accounting for more than one in 10 motor claims.

February and June were the safest months to be on the road, with less than 7% of accidents occurring in these months.

The data showed that Friday recorded the highest volume of motor accidents at 16%, while Tuesday seems to be the safest day on roads with just 13% of accidents.

Chief executive of InjuriesBoard.ie, Patricia Byron, said the data should help those preparing risk minimisation strategies.

“Injuries arising from motor accidents account for more than seven out of every 10 awards for personal injuries in Ireland. Given such high accident volumes on our roads, this comprehensive data should assist those involved in developing risk minimisation strategies,” she said.

An analysis of motor liability awards per head of population in 2007, and released earlier this year by the Injuries Board, showed that Louth had the highest level of awards. The county accounted for 4.58% of total awards despite representing just 2.62% of the national population.

Kilkenny had the lowest level of motor liability awards, accounting for 1.09% of all awards last year while representing 2.07% of the population.

Meanwhile, all through-traffic in Dublin city centre may be banned because of increased congestion and construction work, Dublin City Council has warned.

According to a consultation paper, the number of commuters is expected to double, leaving no room for more cars on city centre streets. The warning comes as Dublin City Council prepares a development plan for 2011.

The planning department believes that the number of commuters coming into the city will almost double to 375,000 by 2020.

According to the paper, there is no more capacity on the city’s streets and traffic modelling has shown it may be necessary for through-traffic to be removed to allow the city to operate effectively.

Yesterday, the Road Safety Authority reminded road users to use dipped headlights during the day over the bank holiday weekend and coming months.

As the bank holiday approaches and the clocks go back, the authority said that using dipped headlights during the day helps improve visibility on roads and is a low-cost way of reducing daytime collisions.

Garda figures released yesterday showed that 37 pedestrians have been killed on the roads this year to date, compared with 60 for the same period last year. Four of the pedestrians were over 76 years of age, compared with 17 last year.