New road safety measures including the reduction of urban speed limits to 30km/h are set to be implemented by 2027, the Oireachtas Transport Committee has been told.
A total of 131 people were killed and more than 900 seriously injured on roads in the State between January 1st and October 8th this year, committee members heard on Wednesday.
Half of those who died were vulnerable road users, including 25 motorcyclists, 24 pedestrians, 13 cyclists and two e-scooter users.
The assistant secretary general at the Department of Transport, Keith Walsh, told TDs and senators of “shocking increases in the numbers of deaths on our roads” following the Covid pandemic in 2022.
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While the number of fatalities has stopped increasing and has at least stabilised, he said “one death is one too many”.
Dr Walsh said the reduction of speed limits to 30km/h in urban areas, including outside schools and in housing estates, would be carried out by local authorities in 2027.
Asking councils to impose the limits, he said, would be more efficient than introducing national legislation.
Other actions included in the road safety strategy to be introduced by 2027 included greater use of safety cameras.
The strategy also provided for “enhanced and alternative judicial sanctions” – including graduated penalties, the potential introduction of alcohol locks to prevent those under the influence from starting their engines, speed awareness courses – and increased focus on road safety in schools.
Susan Gray, of road safety group Parc, presented a list of “must do” items, which she said were essential in reducing deaths and serious injuries on the roads.
These included stopping learner drivers from repeatedly renewing their permits without sitting a test and ensuring all disqualified drivers were automatically recorded on the national driver file database. It also sought reforms surrounding the forfeiture of a driving licence and enforcement of those reforms.
Ms Gray said there should be mutual recognition of disqualified drivers between Ireland and the UK and that gardaí must be given access to data from the Department of Transport and have access to the file at the roadside.
She also called for extra roads policing units with additional gardaí.
Deputy Garda Commissioner Shawna Coxon said the number of people who had died on the roads between January and early October this year, compared with the similar period last year, was down by 3 per cent. The number of serious-injury collisions in the period was down by 7 per cent.
However, she said 3,594 people, as of October 1st, had been arrested for drink-driving this year, an increase of 4 per cent, while drug-driving had seen a rise of 5 per cent with 2,179 arrests made in the period.
Sam Waide, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority, said three-quarters of those killed on the roads this year were male. One in four was aged 25 or under, while one in three was aged 46-65 years.
He also revealed that counties Cork, Dublin, Galway, Donegal, Mayo and Kerry had the highest number of roads fatalities this year to date.
In relation to the driver-testing service, Mr Waide said targets were being met and there was “a 10-week national average estimate time” for test invitations.
