Yet as recently as five years ago, Ireland was being celebrated within the EU for road safety, following a reduction in fatalities of over 40%. So, what, if anything, has changed?
The bleak start to 2024 continues a worrying recent trend for road fatalities in Ireland . Last year was the worst in nearly a decade, with 188 deaths.
And it appears to be getting worse. Of the 61 people that have died on our roads in 2024 so far, a third were 25 years old or younger. "They think ‘I'm not going to get involved in the collision.’ They participate in speeding more. They wear their seat belts less and they drive while intoxicated," Dr Gormley said.
There's no simple explanation for what’s gone wrong, but experts who spoke to Prime Time said intoxicated driving, speeding, legal enforcement and policing, driver distraction, and road layout, are all contributing factors."We had thought that we were getting on top of the drink driving problem and that it was going to decrease. But evidence has shown that is not the case," Professor Denis Cusack told Prime Time.
Of the fatalities where alcohol was detected, the dead were typically male, and under the age of 45. These deaths generally occurred in the late evening or early hours of the morning, and at the weekend. While the total number of arrests for driving while intoxicated was similar in 2023 to 2022, the proportion involving drugs increased significantly.
87% of the drivers killed on the roads while driving above an appropriate speed were male, according to the latest available RSA data. "We fear that when the guidelines are brought out, local county councils will not adjust the speed limits. And, even if it did work, we're back to enforcement," Ms Gray added.
"Gardaí keep saying the numbers of gardaí in roads policing fluctuates. They welcome the use of speed cameras as an alternative. But speed cameras will never catch someone drink-driving or on their phone," Ms Gray added. "It was advertised everywhere by the Gardaí. 'We will be out there. We can test you any time.' And they were out there. It wasn't a bluff."
Figures from the Department of Justice show that personnel attached to the Roads Policing Unit have fallen by more than 100 in less than two years.
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