Road Safety

Minister of State in the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton TD has launched Ireland’s fifth Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030.

The primary aim of the government’s new road safety strategy is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% over the next 10 years. This means reducing deaths on Ireland’s roads annually from 144 to 72 or lower and reducing serious injuries from 1,259 to 630 or lower by 2030.

The Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 will be delivered in three phases. Phase 1 which runs from 2021 to 2024 is backed by a projected €3.8bn investment and includes 50 high-impact actions and 136 support actions.

The strategy is the first step in achieving the 2020 Programme for Government commitment of bringing Ireland to ‘Vision Zero’. This is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by the year 2050. The Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 builds on the progress made during the last road safety strategy which saw Ireland achieve the lowest number of annual road deaths since records began and the second lowest rate of road deaths in the EU in 2019.”

1959-1975

1975- 1995

1995 - 2010

2010 - present

In Ireland, since records began in 1959 the rate of annual deaths continued to rise until they peaked at 640 deaths in 1972 and subsequently decreased to 387 deaths in 1986.

Between 1986 and 2005 the number fluctuated before a period of significant reduction began. The total road deaths decreased from 396 in 2005 to all time lows of 134 deaths in 2018 and again in 2021. 2022 showed an increase to 155 road deaths recorded, the same amount as 2017. Last year, 2023, 185 road deaths were recorded.

The reduction in fatalities in Ireland can be attributed to a number of key policies and actions set out in Ireland’s four Road Safety Strategies since 1998.

These include:

• the introduction of the national car test in 2000
• the introduction of a penalty points system in 2002
• the introduction of a safety camera network
• increased enforcement through An Garda Síochána and the Garda Traffic Corps
• the establishment of the Road Safety Authority and the introduction of mandatory alcohol testing in 2006
• increased legislative sanctions for road and vehicle offences
• significant investment in infrastructure resulting in safer motorways and other roads
• focused road safety education and awareness programmes

Educating the public about different aspects of road safety has been a large part of the government's role since the 1940s.

An interesting insight into the history of road safety promotion in Ireland is given by the following short films dating from 1949, commissioned by the Irish Government at the time and available since 14th September 2016 on the Irish Film Institute’s IFI Player. The films are ‘Mr Careless goes to town’ and ‘Safe Cycling’.

ifiplayer.ie/mr-careless-goes-to-town.

ifiplayer.ie/safe-cycling.