09/01/2009 -
Motorists Urged to be Vigilant in 2009
While 2008 saw the lowest ever recorded road deaths in Ireland since records began, there were still 276 people tragically killed on the nation’s roads, including seven people were killed in County Sligo.
Val Baynes, Road Safety Officer with Sligo County Council, welcomed the trend of the national figures and feels they reflect both the improved change in behaviour by all road users and the work being done by various agencies. He noted that Sligo’s figure of seven road deaths last year was a slight increase on the six people killed in 2007, but a greater number than the 4 people killed in the previous year.
In relation to Sligo’s figures Mr. Baynes was concerned that these were higher than the past couple of years. “The county’s figures were tragically higher than the past couple of years but can be compared to the eleven Sligo road deaths in 2005. I would appeal to all road users in county Sligo to be ever more vigilant and hopefully 2009 will see reduced road deaths and serious injuries in the county ”.
“At national level the increased enforcement activities by the Gardai is reaping great rewards. The targeted campaigns by Gardai in relation to drink-driving alone saved dozens of lives last year. However, it is shocking that several hundred drivers were still arrested for drink-driving offences in Ireland over the Christmas period. The national roll-out of safety cameras will help to deal with the continuing problem of cars being driven at excessive and dangerous speeds – this will save more lives in the years to come.”
Mr Baynes complimented the efforts of Sligo Gardai in their enforcement activities. ‘The improvement in driver behaviour over the past couple of years has been an equally critical reason for the dramatic fall in road deaths. The simple rules of never drink-and-driving, wearing seat-belts and driving at safe speeds will ensure much safer roads for all road-users”.
He also noted that the overwhelming majority of Irish road fatalities occur on either national and regional routes reflecting the larger volumes of road traffic and the higher speeds that vehicles travel at. In Sligo, for example, sixteen of the last seventeen road deaths have occurred on these types of roads.
Mr Baynes especially asked for drivers on these routes to watch out for pedestrians and cyclists and to beware of vehicles attempting to come out from side roads, and stressed that every road user has a direct and personal responsibility to ensure they behave in a safe and courteous manner to ensure the nation’s roads are safe for all.
Communications Office
9th January 2009
