Editorial: As death toll climbs, message on road safety is not getting through anywhere

The awful trend is going up. At the current rate of traffic fatalities, Ireland is on course to record over 225 deaths by December 31 – potentially making it the worst year for road safety in over a quarter century.

Gardaí have confirmed 70 people have died on Irish roads to date this year – almost a third higher than the death toll for the same period last year.

Of the deaths this year, 27 involved drivers, 12 involved pedestrians, 19 involved passengers, nine involved motorcyclists and three involved pedal cyclists.

Almost 40pc of those who died on Irish roads were aged under 35. It’s a nationwide phenomenon, with just four Irish counties avoiding a fatal road traffic collision so far this year – so far being the operative term.

Cork has recorded Ireland’s highest death toll this year with 10 lives lost in crashes, followed by Mayo with eight deaths, Dublin with seven and Kildare with five. In just four months this year, Kildare recorded more road deaths than in the entirety of last year or 2022. The only four counties to have avoided losing a life on the roads are Longford, Leitrim, Laois and Monaghan.

With last year being the worst recorded for road deaths in over a decade, this year is on course to prove the most lethal year for traffic fatalities in a quarter of a century. The ongoing surge in road deaths has prompted safety campaigners to demand urgent action.

RSA chair Liz O’Donnell said Ireland cannot tolerate the “level of carnage on the roads”.

Research is showing high levels of non-compliance on the roads, including speeding, use of mobile phones and driving while intoxicated. It’s not a case of victim-blaming, but there is quite clearly an issue among a younger generation when a growing number of deaths are occurring amongst this age cohort. Road safety education, awareness and appeals will only go so far.

However, it’s not fair to say this is a phenomenon that can be ascribed to any particular age, geographic or demographic cohort. It’s a crisis for everywhere and everyone. And the message is not getting through.

It’s a generation since the penalty points system for driving offences was introduced in 2002. Its aim was to improve driver behaviour and reduce the levels of death and serious injury on our roads. It worked. But this was in an era before smartphones and constant distraction from electronic devices.

An initiative with the level of cultural change as brought about by penalty points won’t be possible to muster overnight. However, firmer enforcement of the existing laws would go some way towards stopping the slaughter on our roads.