Students’ deaths - Roads must be upgraded

On Monday of this week the insurance company AXA predicted that the number of deaths on our roads could drop to a record low this year, dipping under the 250 deaths recorded when records began in 1959. At the beginning of this week there were 205 deaths for the year, which was 45 fewer than the same time last year.

Tuesday night’s accident on the N17 at Carrownurlaur, Co Galway, in which four young women were killed, is a horrific reminder that there is no room for complacency in relation to road safety. The pain and anguish suffered by their families puts all the recent gloomy economic news into a very different perspective.

Life is precious and such an accident highlights the need to emphasise the necessity of careful driving at all times, and especially in inclement weather at this time of year when mud or fallen leaves on even the best of surfaces can make driving treacherous.

In many rural areas the roads have merely been resurfaced. They may have been safe for a pony and trap, but they are not safe for modern traffic. It is imperative that we continue to upgrade our roads.