Paul Hopkins: It’s time to drive down death on our roads

Despite the rise in traffic fatalities, Ireland remains one of the safest countries in Europe for road use – albeit 44 people having died on Irish roads so far this year, six more than for the same period in 2023. In February more than half of those who died were in their 20s or younger, including a 10-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl.

Yet, Ireland's per capita road death rate of 31 lives lost per one million residents – while slightly increasing since 2022 – remains one of the lowest in Europe. Italy records 54 deaths per one million residents. Europe's highest road death rate is recorded by Portugal and Greece, 62 deaths and 61 deaths respectively per one million residents, double Ireland's number.

However, the Government, the Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) are concerned at the recent spiral in road deaths. Speed, drink, drugs and use of mobile phones while driving all play their part. Most accidents with fatal outcomes occur in the small hours of the morning or at weekends. And now we are talking about developing night-time economies, centred on clubs and bars and late-night drinking and which, if and when given the go-ahead, will largely attract a young audience.

According to new RSA research one in 10 people report driving after drinking while 26% believe driving a short distance after drinking is acceptable.

The 44 deaths in Ireland this year were 17 drivers, 14 passengers, nine pedestrians, three motorcyclists and one bike cyclist.

Despite our relative statistics in Europe, even one death on our roads is a needless one. These sudden catastrophes cut short lives, devastating families and local communities, begging the question as to what can be done to stop the carnage and where the figures for road deaths remain high for us, no matter the European figures. Destroyed lives and lifetimes of heartache know no numbers.

Too often these accidents happen at black spots on local roads. It's obvious that work should be carried out to rectify the problem as a matter of urgency or, at the very least, in the short-term warning notices and reduced speed limits should be in place – some places they are, some not so. A national blackspot remedy programme would make sense, instead of spending on yet more cycle lanes and those problematic pointless plastic poles infesting our roads.

The top causes of road accidents are speeding, driver age and lack of experience and driving under the influence. Speeding doesn’t always mean breaking the speed limit; driving conditions call for lower speed, something where being an experienced driver must surely count. And it’s a combination of inexperience and risk-taking behaviour in, statistically, young men, like speeding, drink driving and not wearing a seat belt, that make them most at risk.

Speed in the biggest killer – endemic in drivers, say Gardaí – particularly on secondary and rural roads. The urgent need for improved safety measures outside Scoil Cholmcille in Skyrne was highlighted by pupils who held a 'Slow Down' morning at the school the other week. Parents, staff and the board of management say the safety measures at the school are not working and in particular they are highlighting issues around cars failing to stop at the zebra crossing.

I see it every day in my own town.

And here's a thing: hit a pedestrian, or school child, at 30kph and they have an 80 per cent chance of survival but hit them at 38kph and that chance is just 25 per cent.

But it isn’t just down to drivers, as car manufacturers could play a part too. We already have cars which warn us to buckle up, indicate when there are freezing conditions. How about warning signals when the speed limit is being exceeded or something like a black box used in planes which would record driver behaviour and be checked by Gardaí just as road tax, insurance and NCT is checked? There could even be a score kept for good driving.

The motor industry can be slow to respond. Look how long it took to make cars less easy to steal. They still seem more interested in marketing the acceleration from 0 to 100 kph.

The era of autonomous self-drive cars is just around the corner. It’s early days to know if they are safer than human drivers. If they prove to be though, it might be time to let go of the steering wheel in an effort to drive down human-caused deaths on our roads.