SPEEDING WAS “directly responsible” for 80 deaths on Irish roads last year, as well as being a factor in the remaining 160 deaths and 1,000 serious injuries.
Research presented by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) yesterday showed that speeding was directly linked to one-third of road deaths nationally in 2009, and as many as 11,000 fatalities in the EU.
The research comes as the death of a 24-year-old man in Co Cork on Sunday brings to 89 the number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year.
According to the RSA, reducing speed by just 5 per cent could save almost 50 lives and prevent up to 100 serious injuries on Irish roads every year.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said the desire to reduce the “needless suffering” of families across the country underpins the State’s road safety strategies.
It’s a proven fact that speed has a direct relationship with collision severity, he said.
Noel Brett, chief executive of the RSA, said it was necessary to remind people of the risks associated with excessive or inappropriate speeding. “We all know that driving too fast increases your risk of being involved in a serious or fatal collision, yet every year, approximately one-third of road deaths are caused by speeding.”
Gardaí are appealing to all road-users to slow down and be vigilant over the June bank holiday weekend.
There were four fatal collisions during the June bank holiday weekend last year, as well as 298 arrests for driving under the influence, according to gardaí.
Encouraging pedestrians to wear bright, preferably high-visibility clothing, Asst Garda Commissioner Kevin Ludlow said it was of particular concern that one-third of the people killed on our roads are pedestrians, the majority of whom are over 40.
Meanwhile, drivers in the North caught breaking the speed limits or committing other motoring offences may from today have the option of attending special driving classes. The classes emphasise the dangers of speeding and aim to improve driving standards and represent an alternative to paying a fine and picking up penalty points.
In a move to limit the numbers of young crash victims the PSNI is adapting an initiative successfully employed by Thames Valley police in England which resulted in re-offending falling by 60 per cent.
Last year more than one-third of the North’s 115 road fatalities involved users aged between 17 and 24.
The four-hour special driving classes, known as the Speed Awareness Scheme, follow a United Kingdom-approved syllabus and will be run by DriveTech (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of the AA.
They will be delivered by specially selected approved road safety specialists and courses will be held in Omagh, Co Tyrone, Coleraine, Co Derry and Belfast and Newry in Co Down.
Asst Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said: “This is the final warning for those who continue to break the speed limits.”
He added that road users will find the classes “very challenging”.