Country 'called to arms' to keep safe on the roads this Bank Holiday weekend
A garda stands at the closed N54 outside Clones, Co Monaghan after a crash which claimed the lives of Kiea McCann, aged 17, and Dlava Mohamed, aged 16.
The country has been issued with a “call to arms” to ensure this August Bank Holiday weekend does not add to 101 lives already lost on the roads this year.
Road Safety Authority chief executive Sam Waide said that on current trends, Ireland could reach 168 road deaths this year — 12 more than 2022 and 28 more than 2019.
The 101 road deaths recorded this year is already 12 more than at the same stage last year and 22 more than 2019.
The warning comes as families of victims of road traffic tragedies told the of the heartbreak and agony of losing a loved one on the roads.
Leo Lieghio, who lives in Wicklow, lost his daughter Marsia in 2005 when she was just 16 years old.
“She’s gone longer now than we had her with us,” he said.
“People will tell you that time heals but it doesn’t heal at all.
Karen Newman from Mullingar lost her brother Richard on August 6, 2004.
“Our loved ones that have passed should never be viewed as statistics,” she said.
"They were a person with goals, dreams, and aspirations.
“It's very cruel because it's every milestone and every life event and it's like this massive void that's left in your life. That little spark in all of us dims and dies to some degree.”
Patricia Gibbons from Offaly had been married to her husband James for just eight months when he was killed on January 17, 2008.
“It was life-changing because our lives were just starting, we were eight months married and we were expecting our second baby and we were in our house, but in a split second everything just changed,” she said.
Speaking in the wake of the Monaghan tragedy which claimed the lives of two young women, Mr Waide said the country needs to “pull together” when it comes to road safety given the loss of 101 people already this year.
On Thursday, Kiea McCann, aged 17, and Dlava Mohamed, aged 16, were laid to rest following the tragic crash on Monday evening outside Clones.
“My ask to everyone is to bring road safety back to the dinner table. And back to the breakfast bar. Families, friends, peers, colleagues, bring it back to the forefront of the conversation," said Mr Waide.
“Everyone needs to be encouraging good behaviour. We have to avoid distractions like rushing to meet timelines. We all need to change our behaviour, be safer on the road and reduce our speed.
“This is about saving lives and reducing serious injuries. A lost life is an empty chair at the table. No one wants families’ and friends’ lives changed forever.”
Gardaí will be running a country-wide operation aimed at clamping down on road traffic offences this weekend.
Assistant Garda commissioner for roads policing Paula Hilman urged drivers to slow down over a weekend where road users are at a higher risk of being involved in a fatal or serious crash.
She said the campaign will run to Wednesday morning because “some of the highest risk times are [Friday], and Monday and Tuesday coming back from wherever you’ve been on your time away”.
“The really key message is to slow down," she said.
Earlier this week, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the rise in road deaths is more than just a setback.
“There was a time when nearly 600 people every year died on roads in Ireland,” he said. “I don’t want us to go back to that.”
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