'Nothing off the table' to improve safety after four women killed on Irish roads

Gardaí said investigations are ongoing and no cause has been given for any of the fatal accidents as of yet. Picture: Stock

There is “nothing off the table” to improve road safety, the road transport minister has said, as a bleak weekend saw four women killed in separate accidents in Ireland in 24 hours.

Two pedestrians, a driver, and a cyclist died on Saturday in another stark weekend for road safety. 

A pedestrian aged in her late 20s died following a crash in Co Wexford on Saturday around 3pm. In Co Meath, a woman aged in her 60s was killed in a crash on Saturday. The woman, a pedestrian, died following the crash involving a car that occurred at approximately 7.10pm in Ashbourne.

Elsewhere, in Co Clare, a woman aged in her 70s died in a collision involving a bike and a tractor. The incident occurred at Toonagh, Tulla, at around 12.45pm.

Meanwhile, a Donegal woman was killed following a two-vehicle collision outside Omagh on Saturday.

Gardaí said investigations are ongoing and no cause has been given for any of the fatal accidents as of yet.

Seán Canney, the super junior minister responsible for road transport, said he planned to meet with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) in the coming weeks to discuss measures to improve safety.

Education

While not referring to the specific incidents of the weekend, Mr Canney spoke in general terms that improving education of drivers was key to reducing injuries and deaths on Irish roads.

“I think we have to put a dose of reality back into everybody. Our roads can be dangerous if we are distracted, if we have drink-driving, if we have drug-driving, driving at speed."

Mr Canney said there was “nothing off the table” to deal with increased road deaths.

On increasing the number of gardaí attached to roads policing units, Mr Canney said he would welcome further resources. However, he highlighted new laws would make it easier for gardaí to deal with offenders.

He added that new average speed cameras were being rolled out to assist in dealing with speeding.

“At the end of the day, the object of the exercise is to slow people down, not to catch them,” Mr Canney said.

I think that’s the message as well: Slow down, you won’t be caught, take it easy, get there safely

Safety campaigners repeated calls for a “radical” change to how children and teenagers are educated around road safety.

'Human error'

Olivia Keating, who has been campaigning since she suffered severe injuries when she was knocked off her bike and left for dead on the N71 near Bandon in 2016, said: “More than 90% of incidents on our roads are not accidents.

“Yes, freak accidents do occur. But in an overwhelming majority of cases, it is down to human error with someone not paying attention, or travelling too fast to react to a sudden situation," she said.

“We don’t just need to educate kids, but we also need to educate adults."

Elber Twomey,  whose husband Connie, 16-month-old son Oisín, and unborn daughter Elber Marie were killed when a suicidal driver rammed their car in 2012, said:  "For there to be anything near the zero deaths targets set by Europe on our roads, there needs to be a radical overhaul of the way we teach our children about road safety."