Taskforce to tackle soaring level of Cork road deaths

A taskforce is to be set up in Cork to reduce road deaths, which have soared well above the national average.

While the number killed on roads fell in other counties last year it went up by 50% in Cork.

Niall Brett, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority, revealed some startling statistics which set Cork drivers apart from other counties including:

* 20% of drivers killed in the county weren’t wearing seatbelts, whereas elsewhere there was up to 94% compliance.

* 27 people lost their lives in the city and county last year, compared to 18 in 2010.

He said figures showed drivers aged 17-24 were four times more likely to be killed because of excessive speed.

“This is a significant problem and we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves and sort it out,” he told at a special briefing at Cork University Hospital, which was attended by NRA and local authority engineers and members of the emergency services.

Chief Superintendent Ger Dillane, who is in charge of the traffic corps in Munster, said pedestrians represented 30% of the death toll, and several were aged over 65.

“We must ask drivers to be aware because some pedestrians may be hard of hearing or short-sighted,” he said, adding he was very concerned at the high number of drivers with learner permits who had been killed.

Chief Supt Dillane said inappropriate speed was a major contributory problem, as was the use of mobile phones.

“People are also suffering from fatigue after working long shifts and having to drive for a couple of hours to get home.”

He said some years ago it was the norm that most fatal accident occurred in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday.

Now you are most likely to get killed in Cork from 4pm-10pm on Thursdays.

Fiona Bohane of the NRA said pedestrians in the city were being killed during daylight hours by buses and trucks, while those in the county were being killed at nighttime by cars.

Chief Supt Dillane said gardaí were now routinely handing out high-visibility jackets free of charge to pedestrians they meet walking at night who did not possess them.

Kathleen Kirby, who lost two sons in a crash a few years ago near Midleton, said not a day passed when she had not thought about them.

She told the meeting that in her opinion that the authorities should employ more Gatso and Go Safe speed detecting vans on the county’s roads.

“What you’re doing here today [highlighting the issue] is really good,” she said.

Dr Gerry McCarthy, CUH consultant in emergency medicine, said one of the problems was that young male drivers “think they’re immortal”.

He was also critical of people who listen to music on earphones while they were walking or cycling on roads.