Two road deaths on first day of year

TWO people were killed in traffic accidents in the first 24 hours of the new year as new figures show that the number of fatalities on the roads has fallen by 50% since the introduction of the Road Safety Strategy five years ago.

A 22-year-old male driver became the first road fatality of 2012 when he was fatally injured in a single-car collision at Virginia, Co Cavan, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The accident took place at around 2am when his vehicle left the main N3 Dublin-Cavan road and collided with a wall near the town’s main street.

The victim, who was named locally as Gary Morgan, was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was later removed to Cavan General Hospital for a post mortem examination.

Meanwhile, a woman in her 70s died yesterday afternoon following a crash in Co Wexford. The incident happened at about 1.30pm on the Duncannon Road at Haggard near Ramsgrange. Another elderly woman was also injured in the accident.

Meanwhile, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has confirmed that 2011’s total number of road fatalities was the lowest in over 50 years.

The RSA yesterday welcomed the improving downward trend in road deaths in recent years as provisional figures show that 186 people lost their lives in road collisions during 2011 — the lowest total since records began in 1959.

It is the sixth consecutive year that the number of deaths on Irish roads has fallen and represents a decrease of 26 from 2010 and 52 on the total for 2009.

While there was a reduction in the number of drivers and passengers killed last year, there was an increase in vulnerable road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.

Over a third of all victims were aged under 25 years and 70% of all those killed were male, while almost half of all road deaths occurred at weekends.

However, figures show there was a significant drop in road deaths occurring on Sundays.

The safest month of 2011 was April when 9 deaths occurred — the lowest monthly total recorded.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar praised motorists for their effort in improving road safety.

“Safer motorists mean safer roads. People are alive today as a direct result of better driver behaviour,” he said.