Budget cuts 'may contribute to more road deaths'

It is feared the number of people killed on the roads will rise in the next few years, as Budget cuts are set to have an impact on road maintenance and repair work.

It has emerged that the numbers being killed or seriously injured because of poor road conditions has risen dramatically.

So far this year, 177 people have died on the roads and if it stays that way by the New Years Eve, for the first time since records began in 1959 there could be fewer than 200 people killed on the roads.

However, despite a fall in the overall numbers killed, more than one in 20 crashes are now caused by poor road surfaces.

According to an investigation by the Irish Independent, in 2005 when the country was awash with cash, only 1.2% of serious crashes were put down to road surfaces.

By 2009, that number had risen to 5.8%, or 491 crashes.

Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority Noel Brett has said road conditions are now becoming more of an issue because driver behaviour has improved.