Road collisions in Meath more than double 2020 figure

There has been devastation on Meath roads this year with 10 people losing their lives in traffic accidents in the county

There has been devastation on Meath roads this year with 10 people losing their lives in traffic accidents in the county.

This is up by five on the number killed on Meath roads last year.

The most recent fatality only happened last night (Monday) at Carlanstown when a man in his 30s died after car struck a parked truck on R147.

At a meeting of the Meath Joint Policing Committee last week, figures revealed that while serious collisions are down from 36 to 20 (-44per cent), non-serious collisions are up from 70 to 109 (+56per cent). Overall, total collisions have increased by 24per cent this year compared to last.

The meeting also heard that Mandatory Intoxication Testing checkpoints had increased this year by 226 per cent.

The figures led to a call by Deputy Darren O'Rourke for a comprehensive roads strategy for Meath. Speaking before last week's fatal accident he said:

"Tragically, we have had nine fatalities on Meath roads so far this year, up from five in the same period last year. This is most regrettable and our thoughts are with those individuals and families affected.

"These figures are concerning and require a comprehensive response. We need to understand what is causing this increase and it needs to be addressed. Covid has been a major influence on road activity for the past 20 months, not just last year, so this year-on-year rise is significant.”

Other figures revealed at last week's meeting showed a ten per cent decrease in property theft this year across the county with Navan experiencing a 27 decrease in this type of crime.

There was a 10 per cent increase in detections for possession of drugs for personal use across the Meath division with a 92 per cent increase in detection in the Kells district.

There was also a large increase in detections for possession of drugs for sale of supply of 21 per cent across the division with a 220 per cent increase in the Trim District.

Following Friday's meeting Deputy O'Rourke contacted Meath County Council, as the roads authority, and called on them to work with Gardai and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to set out a response to the growing figures for road fatalities and accidents.

“This might appropriately involve enhanced signage, engineering solutions (e.g. traffic calming, hedge cutting, road surfacing, etc), driver awareness campaigns, and increased enforcement, for example.

"We have a number of blackspots in the county where numerous collisions have occurred. Oberstown Cross is an example. Low cost works by Meath Co Council have not been successful there. Between the different responsible authorities, proper solutions need to be implemented at locations like this as a matter of priority."

Meanwhile, the Gardai have announced details of a new national road safety enforcement operation that will target driver behaviour for the remainder of 2021.

Operation ‘Teorainn’ will be mounted nationwide and focus on the four Lifesaver Offences (speeding, driving whilst intoxicated, non-seatbelt wearing and mobile phones), as well as unaccompanied driving by learner drivers, plus road transport offences.

The RSA will support Operation ‘Teorainn’ with a programme of road safety awareness campaigns.

The joint road safety drive comes after a bad summer for road safety across the country this year, particularly August which recorded the highest number of monthly fatalities (24) since June 2012 (26).

The number of deaths overall this year at 110 is a cause for concern, but particularly the number of driver deaths. There has been a 19%* increase in the number of drivers killed (57) this year.