Road deaths up 10 to date on last year

The number of people killed on Irish roads so far this year is up by 10 compared to last year.

Provisional figures supplied by An Garda Síochána today show that 49 people have been killed form the start of this year to date.

Last year 39 people were killed during the same time period.

The figures compiled by the National Safety Council show 16 people have been killed so far in February.

There were 379 people killed on Irish roads last year, the highest total for three years. Excessive speed is regarded as the main contributory factor in the majority of crashes.