Phone use while driving ‘borders on addiction’

The chair of the Road Safety Authority has said she believes the use of mobile phones while driving is now “bordering on addiction”.

Liz O’Donnell also expressed concern a fall in detections for road safety offences last year could be due to lower garda numbers.

A total of 195 lives were lost on Irish roads in 2014 — a 4% increase and the second year in a row in which the annual road fatality figure rose.