One road death is one too many - Taking care on our roads

So far this year, 191 people have died on our roads, one more than for the whole of 2013 and 29 more than in 2012.

That is not just an appalling statistic, but also a wake-up call to all of us to take road safety seriously and address with urgency the rise in fatalities. For a second year in a row, we will record an increase in the number of deaths on the roads.

Last year saw the first year-on-year increase in the number of road deaths in Ireland for the first time since 2005. This is not just disappointing and frustrating but unacceptable. The question must be asked why this is happening when so much has been invested in road safety in the last decade. Apart from the building of safer roads and improvements in infrastructure, there has been a concerted campaign to educate motorists and it appeared to be working. In 2012 the proud boast was that Ireland was one of the safest EU nations for motorists. Whether this remains the case will depend mostly on road users. There is only so much the RSA and the gardaí can do.