Rise in road deaths bucks EU improvement trend

The country’s steady rise towards the top of Europe’s road safety league table has been halted after last year’s increase in the number of fatalities.

While Ireland had been the standout performer in recent years, the rise in the number of people killed in car crashes in the last 12 months bucked a general improvement across Europe.

Overall, there was an 8% fall in the number of people killed on European roads in 2013 but there was a 19% increase in Ireland.