Road traffic deaths ‘could fall below 200’
It also emerged yesterday that 38% of drivers in a sample study were found to have criminal records.
Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid of the Dublin Metropolitan Area made the comments at the launch of an initiative aimed at limiting the number of traffic collisions in the capital.
As of yesterday morning, 151 people had died on the roads this year — 15 fewer than at the same stage last year. Were fewer than 200 people to die on the roads this year, it would mean Ireland would have matched Sweden’s record for last year.
“We are in line to achieve road deaths below 200,” Supt Reid said, adding that the target would only be achieved with the continued co-operation of various agencies around the country and road users of all types.
He also highlighted urban “hotspots” that have seen spikes in the number of people — particularly pedestrians and cyclists — killed and injured in road traffic collisions.
The two periods that gardaí have highlighted are April/May and October/November, and in particular, six Garda subdivisions: Finglas, Blanchardstown, Clondalkin, Tallaght, Rathfarnham, and Store Street. The four Garda districts with the highest levels of fatal and serious injury crashes were Finglas, Blanchardstown, Ronanstown and Tallaght.
Analysis of collisions in the April/May and October/November months in the past three years have shown 52 incidents involving 17 fatal and 35 serious injury collisions.
Forty of the incidents involved pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, and 79% occurred in 50km/h zones, with gardaí stressing the probability of death in an accident in a 50km/h zone was 45%, as opposed to 5% in a 30km/h zone.
Three quarters of all collisions occurred on dry roads, while 38% involved a pedestrian and a car.
Gardaí said that pedestrians needed to avoid jaywalking, with Noel Brett, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority, claiming there needed to be “a culture change”, although he did not advocate court sanctions for those involved.
One quarter of all collisions analysed showed that alcohol, speed and aggressive driver behaviour were factors, while Supt Reid also said that 38% of people who were involved in collisions analysed last year “also had criminal histories”. He said that in many cases areas with a high rate of road traffic collisions also had a higher crime rate generally.
The analysis also showed that between 1am and 4am, collisions were most likely to involve a driver only. From 10am and 1pm they were more likely to involve a driver and vulnerable road user.
