Drawing wrong conclusion from fatal statistics

THE media has voiced concern over the increase in road deaths this year compared to last year’s figures, and indeed your issue of July 7, reporting on a Cork road death, echoed these sentiments — and rightly so.

To combat this dangerous trend, Transport Minister Martin Cullen has increased speed and drink driving checks. The media repeatedly compares road death statistics month by month with the same time period in the previous year.

So more road deaths are equated to a deterioration in driving. This is totally misguided. For example, say in June of this year, there was one vehicle in a fatal crash and all six occupants were killed. Now, let’s say that in June of last year there were four single-occupancy vehicles involved in separate fatal crashes, giving a total of four deaths.

So the June ‘06 figures reveal six road deaths, while the June ‘05 figures give four road deaths. The assumption is that in June ‘06 our driving standards worsened because there were more road deaths when, in fact, the opposite is true — driving standards were far better because there were fewer fatal crashes. This is something Mr Cullen should bear in mind.

Cormac Murphy

Jacobs Island

Ballinure

Cork.