Irish Examiner View: A simple rule to reduce the number of death on Irish roads

It seems shocking that we ignore such basic measures to protect ourselves and others.

Provisional collision data from 2017 to 2020 shows that 10% of vehicle occupants seriously injured were not wearing a seatbelt.

It is scarcely believable that more than a quarter of people killed on the roads last year were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. In an age of so-called enlightenment, this is a truly startling statistic.

Analysis by the Road Safety Authority of provisional Garda statistics from 2021 shows 27% of drivers and passengers killed in road traffic collisions were not wearing a seatbelt. Given decades of safety campaigns, it defies belief that we as a nation are still so ignorant of basic safety measures while driving or being driven on our roads.