Marked reduction in road deaths

The number of deaths on Irish roads this year is likely to be the lowest ever recorded, it was predicted today.

To date in 2009, 205 people have been killed, 45 fewer than last year.

Insurance company Axa said, given current trends, the number of people killed on Irish roads this year will dip below 250 for the first time since records began in 1959. It is a drop of over 90 on 2007, when 339 people died on Irish roads.

Were the toll to drop below 250, it would put Ireland in the top five countries in Europe in terms of the lowest numbers of deaths per head of population.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has credited the introduction of random breath testing and greater driver awareness for fewer deaths and serious injuries over recent years.

Speaking at the launch of insurance company AXA's European survey, the company's head of corporate affairs Paul Maloney said Ireland was now being held up as a role model by other countries trying to pursue a successful road safety strategy.

In recent months the RSA has hosted delegations from Wales, Finland, Bulgaria and Israel and a teleconference with Victoria state in Australia. The Victoria model of road safety was studied by the Government before it embarked on the five-year road safety strategy in 2007.

"We have gone from being one of the worst in European road accidents to one of the best. This has been noted by other countries," Mr Maloney said.

Garda Derek Cloughley from the Garda Road Safety Unit, said there had been "massive improvements" in road safety in recent years, though there was still too many people dying on Irish roads.

"Credit to the police force, credit to the Government, but credit to the public in general. People are starting to change their attitudes and behaviour on the roads. That's a very welcome trend," he said.

The AXA European survey, which surveyed 800 Irish people, found 83 per cent were in favour of a zero alcohol limit against a European average of 68 per cent.

AXA Ireland chief executive John O'Neill said roughly half of all the biggest claims it is dealing with are drink-related and the company had a "strong view" that introducing a zero alcohol limit would bring down the number of those killed on Irish roads to about 150.

He said the Fianna Fáil backbenchers who had objected to the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey's attempt to lower the drink driving limit were out of step with the thinking of the Irish public.

"I have never heard such a load of absolute rubbish. It is interesting that people who make those crazy statements look crazy even to their constituents when 80 per cent of drivers knew that if you have had a drink, your driving will be impaired," he said.

The survey also found a substantial reduction in the amount of driving being done by Irish motorists as a result of the recession. Nearly half now do less driving and 54 per cent have changed suppliers to one offering cheaper fuel.