Road deaths - Renew safety campaign

That five people died in weekend road accidents underlines the disheartening news from the European Commission yesterday that road fatalities in Ireland increased by 19% between 2012 and 2013, compared to an average EU decline of 8%.

Sixteen lives have been lost on roads in the North since the start of the year, double the total for the first three months of 2012. Deaths in Tipperary bring to 43 the number of people killed on the Republic’s roads since the start of the year, two less than that in the similar period in 2013. These figures come after a number of years in which considerable progress had been made in tackling issues around road safety. These figures suggest it its time to renew that campaign and provide the resources needed to do that.