Dramatic fall in Meath road deaths as county now one of safest

The number of deaths on the road in Co Meath has again fallen dramatically - to just four in 2011 - making it one of the safest counties in the country for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians and providing a major boost for road safety campaigners and officials. The major part of the year was accident-free and three accidents (all single-vehicle incidents) between August and September resulted in four fatalities. However, the reduction in the number of accidents from six in 2010 to four has been welcomed by Meath County Manager Tom Dowling who said that it was a major achievement and those working in road safety in the county would continue to make safety a priority through implementation of the council's Road Safety Plan. The drop in fatalities in the county is following the trend in the country in general where the number of road fatalities has fallen for the sixth consecutive year and below 200 for the first time since road deaths have been recorded in 1959. The safest county is Dublin where 20 people died in 2010 (this equates to 17 deaths per million) followed by Co Galway (four, or 36 per million), Co Cork (18, or 37 per million), and Co Meath (6, or 37 per million). Meath Road Safety Officer Michael Finnegan said that the four fatal accidents were personal tragedies for the victims' families and he extended the council's sympathies to them. "We would have wished that there were no fatalities and we will be working tirelessly to try to ensure that we bring about that scenario. There is no good reason why it could not be done," he said. He said that the council's three-year Road Safety Plan, which expires this year, was a major factor in reducing the number of accidents on the roads and in making people more aware of safety on the road. It involves aspects of engineering, education and enforcement. Under the plan, the council has pledged to tackle three accident locations per year but has been exceeding that figure. In the last year, more than 20 new pedestrians crossings were installed in Meath; lighting was erected at Navan Road, Nobber; Navan Road, Trim; Kells Road, Carlanstown; Drogheda Road, Slane; Station Road, Dunboyne. Accident locations at Marvelstown, Carlanstown; Rathmore in Athboy; Gormanston-Stamullen were also the subject of road safety improvements. The county council combined with the Health Promotion Department of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to deliver road safety presentations to 10,000 people, including school students, community groups, No Name Clubs, Traveller groups, NYPD Navan, and foreign national groups. The Director of the Health Promotion Unit in HSE Dublin North East is Dr Nazih Eldin. There were also advice meetings and seminars for a further 4,900 participants at events like Slane Concert, Kells Road Races, along with community group meetings in the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan, the Headfort Arms Hotel, Kells, citizens' active retirement groups, and residents' associations. Mr Finnegan, who delivered a press briefing on road safety, with Rosaleen Dolan of the HSE Health Promotion Department, said that the recent announced reduction in the number of Gardai in the Road Traffic Corps was not a welcome development and he hoped it would not impact on road safety. Enforcement was an extremely important part of Meath County Council's Road Safety Plan and he hoped that Gardai would be able to tackle all aspects of road safety but especially the increasing use of mobile phones by drivers. Mr Dowling welcomed the fact that the roads in County Meath were now ranked among the top three safest in the country. "Without the enormous efforts of so many people this would not be possible and Meath County Council will continue to make road safety a priority through the implementation of its current Road Safety Plan", he said.