Road deaths up 10% to 100 in 2026 as calls grow for more garda roads policing

Figures published by An Garda Síochána and compiled by PARC show that, in 2009, there were 1,046 gardaí attached to the then Traffic Corps units across the country. Picture: Larry Cummins

The number of people killed on the country's roads has already hit 100 for 2026, 10% more than in the same period in 2025.

The latest deaths in two separate crashes in Louth and Tipperary have prompted urgent calls for an increased garda visibility on the country's roads to try to stem the number of tragedies.

An Garda Síochána confirmed that 10 more people have died so far in 2026 than in 2025. The latter year had widely been considered to be a poor one in terms of road fatalities.

On Thursday evening, a man in his 50s died after the car he was driving was involved in a single-vehicle collision in Dundrum, Co Tipperary, shortly before 6pm.

Earlier on Thursday, a man and a woman, both in their 70s, died in a collision involving two cars at The Bush, Co Louth, shortly after 3pm. Two people, both in their 30s, were airlifted from the scene with serious injuries and taken to Beaumont Hospital and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin.

Coroners have been notified and autopsy examinations are due to be carried out.

Among the 100 people who have died on Irish roads so far this year are:

• 21 pedestrians 
• 42 drivers 
• 13 passengers 
• 13 motorcyclists 
• Eight cyclists 
• Three e-scooter or e-bike riders or passengers

Susan Gray of the PARC Road Safety Group said: “We have had 12 deaths on the roads so far this month – we had 16 in the whole of July last year. Last month, we had 14 and we only had 11 in June of last year.” 

She said there needs to be a greater garda presence on the roads.

Figures published by An Garda Síochána and compiled by PARC show that, in 2009, there were 1,046 gardaí attached to the then Traffic Corps units across the country.

The most recent figures available on the gardaí's website show there are 641 gardaí attached to roads policing units.

Ms Gray said: “It is almost 400 less.”

Although she acknowledged that people are being detected for breaching road traffic legislation, she added: “There is no fear of being caught out there. There isn’t. The general feeling is that the chances of coming across a garda checkpoint, apart from a long weekend, are small. They take their chances.”

Ms Gray also expressed concern about delays in the driving test system.

She said waiting times for invitations to book driving tests remain high, including at one centre in Dublin, where the waiting time for an invitation is 28 weeks.

“That is just to get an invitation – that is not the appointment for the test,” she said.

Social Democrats transport spokesperson Aidan Farrelly also criticised garda staffing levels in roads policing, saying: “There is simply not enough Garda to police road traffic offences."

He added: “Equally, we need to have a genuine conversation about the levels of driver error and the dangerous habits that too many of our drivers are engaged in, including speeding and phone usage.” 

Road deaths have also increased in Northern Ireland, where 39 people have died on the roads since January 1, compared with 27 during the same period in 2025.

A 24-year-old woman from Tipperary, Raven Adams, died in a hit-and-run collision in Belfast on Thursday morning. A man was arrested in connection with the incident.