Concern after worst weekend of year so far for road deaths

Road Safety Authority (RSA) chief Liz O’Donnell has expressed alarm at the deaths of seven people in four road incidents over the weekend – the worst of the year so far for road deaths.

The incidents, between Friday night and the early hours of Sunday morning, brought the number of road deaths to 29 for the year so far, roughly in line with last year’s figures.

Three people died after a two-car crash at about 2.15am on Saturday on the main Dublin to Belfast road south of the Border at Carrickcarnan, Co Louth. A teenage girl, a passenger in a car, died following a single-vehicle road collision near Oughterard in Co Galway at 1.15am on Sunday.

A male pedestrian in his 20s died following a crash involving a lorry at about 11.15am on Saturday in Monaghan. On Friday night, the driver and a passenger of a car travelling in Co Cavan were killed when their car was in a collision with a jeep in Ballinagh.

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Ms O’Donnell, chairwoman of the RSA, said the seven deaths were “a tragedy for individual families and communities”.

Deaths on Irish roads had declined to among the lowest in the world, she said, but the RSA could not be “complacent” and had to work to reduce the number further.

The RSA plans to raise awareness on tackling speed, the main “killer behaviour”, along with driving under the influence of drink and drugs, and mobile phone use while driving.

“People are still going way too fast,” said Ms O’Donnell. “Cars have the capacity to go so fast now. People feel they have to use the speed but all over the world speed is the big killer.”