European award for Irish reduction in road deaths

IRELAND’S much improved performance on road safety will be officially recognised today when the Government picks up a major international award in recognition of the dramatic reduction in road fatalities achieved by the Irish authorities during 2009.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey will travel to Brussels today to collect the 4th annual Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) award presented by the European Transport Safety Council.

Ireland will jointly share the 2009 prize with Estonia. The PIN awards acknowledge the EU member state which achieves the most significant progress in lowering annual road fatalities.

The total number of deaths on Irish roads fell to 239 last year – down 40 on 2008 figures – representing a reduction of 14.3%.

It was the lowest number of road fatalities in the Republic since records began more than 40 years ago.

Ireland narrowly missed out on winning the PIN award in 2008, despite obtaining a 17% reduction in road deaths that year.

The Government’s road safety target of achieving no more than 252 deaths per annum by the end of 2012 has been achieved three years ahead of schedule, according to the Road Safety Authority.

The ETSC will warn that most EU states are set to miss out on the EU target set in 2001 of reducing road deaths by 50% by the end of this year.

An RSA spokesperson said that Ireland will come close to reaching the official EU target

“Until the final figures are known at the end of 2010, it’s impossible to say if we will meet the target, but we are certainly close to achieving it,” he added.

The ETSC has predicted that the overall EU target will not be met until 2017 based on current rates of falling road fatalities across Europe.

The total number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year is 98 – a reduction of 16 on the corresponding period in 2009.