Number of people suffering serious injuries in road crashes almost triples in a decade

The number of people suffering serious, often life-changing injuries in road crashes has almost tripled over the last ten years, official figures show, and current data may even underestimate the true picture.

Detailed statistics provided by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show that between 2013 and 2022, 10,906 people have been seriously hurt on Irish roads.

The numbers injured each year have risen steadily from 508 a decade ago to 1,424 last year, decreasing only once over that period in the year 2020.

The trend is a threat to Government plans to reduce injury rates by half in the next seven years as part of a European level Vision Zero aim to rid roads of fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.

Cork driver found travelling at twice the speed limit as gardaí mount checkpoints across the country

---

The Irish Times view on traffic cameras: a useful tool to improve driver behaviour

---

Parents of boy (4) killed by drunk driver call for road safety to be taught in schools

---

What other EU state would build schools on roads with 80km/h speeds and no footpaths?

---

[ ‘I really miss my old life. I loved my job ... I miss working. I miss being pain free’ ]

Injury data collated by An Garda Síochána is considered more accurate than in previous years but still may not reveal the full extent of the problem.

According to the RSA, it is “internationally acknowledged that the number of serious injuries based on police reports is underestimated”.

The authority is working on a project with the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin and the HSE to assess serious injuries using hospital data.

“Once this report is complete, we will have a greater understanding of the burden of serious injuries from road traffic collisions,” it said.

This year and next, the RSA is focusing on speed as the main aggravating factor in road crashes. Fatality rates have failed to decrease significantly in recent years and now stand at a 10 year annual average of 159.

This summer, the Department of Transport is expected to publish a review of speed limits which could see the 50km/h default speed limit on urban roads cut to 30km/h and 100km/h on rural roads reduced to 80km/h.

RSA chairwoman, Liz O’Donnell, who believes speeding in Ireland is now at “epidemic levels”, supports a reduction in speed limits and said gardaí are currently looking at ways to “enhance the hours of deployment” of Go Safe speed vans based on intelligence led information on crash black spots.

“I think the penalty points have to go up as well - the number of penalty points that you get for multiple offences, for example, or for speeding. Graduated speeding penalty points are a good idea.”

Sam Waide, the authority’s chief executive, said following data trends was key to combating road crashes and their consequences.

“We need to stop tolerating poor behaviour and what I mean by that is we need more consequences,” he said. “Consequence drives good behaviour.”

By way of example, he noted drivers caught using mobile phones in Northern Ireland receive six penalty points compared to three in the Republic.

“One might suggest, ‘Well that’s brutal, six points,’ but that actually drives better behaviour.”

Mr Waide said other measures including further upgrading of single carriageway rural roads and technological fixes such as more funding for average speed camera systems that calculate the speed of a car over a measured distance were also required to improve safety.

With regard to mobile phone use, he said a technology fix was possible to “freeze” devices in moving vehicles, preventing their use by either drivers or passengers.