Ireland gets award for halving road deaths since 2001

IRELAND has received a major European award in recognition of almost halving the number of road deaths since 2001.

Transport minister Noel Dempsey received the 2010 Road Safety PIN Award in Brussels yesterday. The award is made by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and marks outstanding road safety performance among EU member states.

Road deaths in Ireland were cut by 50% from 107 per million inhabitants in 2001 to 54 per million inhabitants in 2009, a 41% reduction in eight years.