Ireland has made remarkable road safety progress over the last decade and is now the sixth safest country out of 27 EU member states.
A new report, published by the European Transport Safety Council in Brussels, shows that since 2001, Ireland has seen a rapid improvement in road safety. A total of 411 people were killed on Irish roads in 2001 compared with 212 in 2010, which represents a 48 per cent cut in road deaths. Only 10 other member states managed to achieve or improve on this level of reduction in road deaths.
The ETSC report also shows that road deaths in Ireland dropped by 11 per cent between 2009 and 2010 and, as a result, Ireland has moved up one place in the road safety rankings in the EU. Ireland is now the sixth safest country out of 27 EU Member states, with 47 deaths per million population.
The five countries with better track records than Ireland remain Sweden (28 deaths per million ), Britain, Malta, The Netherlands, and Germany. Ireland’s roads are now safer than roads in Australia (61 ) and the USA (107 ).
Noel Brett, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority, commented on the ETSC report by praising the Irish public for their achievements.
“Yet again road users in Ireland have shown that by taking road safety into the heart of their communities many lives can be saved and injuries prevented. Your achievement is remarkable and you have become an example to the rest of Europe and indeed the world by your responsible actions on the roads. But these achievements can be easily taken away from us if we allow ourselves to become complacent. There is still a big gap between Ireland and the safest counties in Europe.
“Already this year your efforts are showing results with 16 fewer deaths on our roads to date compared with the same period last year. If I could pick three areas for improvement it would be to slow down, don’t use a mobile phone while driving, and wear a high visibility jacket when out cycling, biking or walking.”
Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Luxembourg, Sweden, France and Slovenia all reached the EU Commission target of achieving a 50 per cent reduction in road deaths throughout the EU by 2010. Ireland very nearly made it with a reduction of 48 per cent, but was above the EU average of 43 per cent in the EU27.
At EU level, the overall reduction in deaths was reduced by 100,000 since 2001, while the benefits to society are estimated at €176 billion.
“These figures show the immense value to society of working to make using the roads safer. The potential for saving is far from being exhausted, particularly as important safety measures remain to be fully implemented, or are still being developed. If we are able to reach the new EU 2020 target of a further 50 per cent reduction in road deaths, the benefit to society could be an additional €182 billion,” said Richard Allsop, ETSC, PIN programme chairman.
