From a baseline well below the EU. Seems likely to be a regression towards the mean.
The number of people on their phones is astounding. It appears everyone at traffic lights is distracted or using them even when driving. This could be easily dealt with by doubling the number of points received for mobile phone use, including when a car is stopped. Guards should also no longer be allowed to use mobile phones in the course of duty and actually lead by example.
We are too fixated on speeding in this country. There is very little enforcement of any other traffic laws, including drink driving, red light running, bald tyres, etc. This emphasis on speed alone has clearly failed. Enforcing speeding laws on narrow roads or outside schools makes sense. Putting average speed cameras on motorways in which you can safely do speeds above our (by EU standards) low speed limits is pointless.
I was not expecting the top comment to be ‘we’re only catching up, we can still afford to kill a few more’. Man, some people need to get out of statistics class. No, we shouldn’t be killing more grannies (the highest category of pedestrians killed on the roads is 80+). Cars are now far safer than they were – but driving is worse. We need to fix the bad driving – probably by controls.
Curious as to the ratio of pedestrian involvement
Shite standards of driving is why.
People will say population rise..but have you seen the way people drive around the country roads where a vast majority of accidents occur. Speed limit is lower on dual carriageways than some of the secondary roads
Red light cameras are badly needed. Amber gamblers are one thing but the amount of cunts flying through reds is ridiculous.
First offence: fine and points
Second offence: 10x original fine and double points.
Third offence: driving ban and your car is crushed into a cube.
I know it’s still well below EU average but fuck me lads the last 1-2 yrs in general driving quality just seems to be gone!! I regularly see people merging without indicators, doing 100km+ on narrow country roads, no lights on when there’s fog or heavy rains, running red latest when they are clearly too late to light, sprinting down 1 way streets before someone sees them to save a few seconds, crossing into the wrong lane when there’s oncoming traffic because they have no patience and think the other lane won’t mind stopping 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
My own street alone just doesn’t fit 2 cars in one sections it’s general practise the lane LEAVING town centre has right of way but 3 crashes in the last 6months ppl going the other way don’t have patience to wait 8seconds and just need to go.
Nobody in Ireland is really trained in how to use a car, or what to do when things don’t go to plan. We’re shown how to use the car, just enough to get us out on the road.
Irish people drive based on fear and superstition, every action the government takes makes people worse at driving, the general skill levels are plummeting as the government encourages people to be more fearful while doing nothing to increase peoples skill level.
Driving slow doesn’t make someone safe. Now people seem to think if they’re crawling around the place at 50kph they are safe and they can look out the side window at what’s going on in the fields, or go on their phone, or be more engrossed in the conversation their having with the passengers in their car than what’s happening in front of them on the road. There’s now traffic on roads that never had traffic before.
Every time I see someone doing 70kph slam on their brakes when they see a speed van on an 80kph road, then crawls past the speed van doing 30kph I see an incompetent driver that shouldn’t be let on the road.
As long as the RSA are the governing body for “road safety” in Ireland this number will continue to rise.
We need a body that is serious about achieving Vision Zero.
Not just the usual micro dick, chicken nugget looking clowns causing this either.
Enraged Karen’s in their SUV’s are the latest addition to the possy of absolute c***ts on the road.
It’s probably something to do with the increasing numbers of people driving like absolute dickheads and a complete lack of enforcement of traffic laws.
1. Lack of enforcement of traffic laws (speeding, drink/drug driving, distracted driving, red light breaking, pavement parking, dangerous parking, dangerous cycling/scooters behaviour).
2. Cars are now so much heavier and higher so collisions are much more deadly for anyone not in their own personal tank.
How does that compare per capita to the rest of the world?
Are we one of the safest places with cars or one of the least safe…
I’m not a driver but I can see how bad some of them are just from being a pedestrian. For example, the amount of cars that will drive straight through a zebra crossing in full daylight while I’m standing right there waiting.
There is no roads policing apart from shooting fish in a barrel to pad the stats.
All distracted driving now. 3 x points if you’re caught
Pretty much every aspect of road safety is a political choice.
All the major causes of crashes can be comprehensively enforced with ANPR cameras (yes, including mobile phone use). Our refusal to do this is a choice.
We know how to design local streets to be safe for pedestrians. The fact that we choose to skimp on pedestrian infrastructure because it might impinge on the flow of cars is a political choice.
And we know that housing estates disconnected from any non-residential functions is a disaster for safety. But we continue to build housing like this because it’s politically easier than developing vibrant, compact towns and villages.
Enforcement and more of it. No camera will ever have the effect of actually seeing someone being pulled over. More enforcement.
The standard of driving has deteriorated significantly post covid.
You really have to be extra careful now as so many drivers are driving way too fast for the road conditions while others are glued to their mobile phones 📵 and the remainder are hell bent on jumping lanes or over taking on blind corners.
Undercover Garda bikers targeting mobile phone use would be a good start.
Otherwise Mobile phone use is very difficult to catch.
Is there any correlation between road suface/condition, and fatalities? Has anyone done research into where the accidents occur, and the state of the road? I’d be interested to see if there was a link. People swerving to avoid pot holes/bodies of water on the surface, hedgerows not maintained adecquately, that sort of thing.
And yeah, driving skill around the place leaves a lot to be desired.
But still amongst the lowest in the EU.
Phones! Always some gobshite weaving in and out of their lane on the N7. Oblivious to the 20 cars behind them want to pass. Undertake them and surprise surprise their head is buried in their phone.
Truck drivers too which really boils my blood.
26 comments
From a baseline well below the EU. Seems likely to be a regression towards the mean.
The number of people on their phones is astounding. It appears everyone at traffic lights is distracted or using them even when driving. This could be easily dealt with by doubling the number of points received for mobile phone use, including when a car is stopped. Guards should also no longer be allowed to use mobile phones in the course of duty and actually lead by example.
We are too fixated on speeding in this country. There is very little enforcement of any other traffic laws, including drink driving, red light running, bald tyres, etc. This emphasis on speed alone has clearly failed. Enforcing speeding laws on narrow roads or outside schools makes sense. Putting average speed cameras on motorways in which you can safely do speeds above our (by EU standards) low speed limits is pointless.
I was not expecting the top comment to be ‘we’re only catching up, we can still afford to kill a few more’. Man, some people need to get out of statistics class. No, we shouldn’t be killing more grannies (the highest category of pedestrians killed on the roads is 80+). Cars are now far safer than they were – but driving is worse. We need to fix the bad driving – probably by controls.
Curious as to the ratio of pedestrian involvement
Shite standards of driving is why.
People will say population rise..but have you seen the way people drive around the country roads where a vast majority of accidents occur. Speed limit is lower on dual carriageways than some of the secondary roads
Red light cameras are badly needed. Amber gamblers are one thing but the amount of cunts flying through reds is ridiculous.
First offence: fine and points
Second offence: 10x original fine and double points.
Third offence: driving ban and your car is crushed into a cube.
I know it’s still well below EU average but fuck me lads the last 1-2 yrs in general driving quality just seems to be gone!! I regularly see people merging without indicators, doing 100km+ on narrow country roads, no lights on when there’s fog or heavy rains, running red latest when they are clearly too late to light, sprinting down 1 way streets before someone sees them to save a few seconds, crossing into the wrong lane when there’s oncoming traffic because they have no patience and think the other lane won’t mind stopping 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
My own street alone just doesn’t fit 2 cars in one sections it’s general practise the lane LEAVING town centre has right of way but 3 crashes in the last 6months ppl going the other way don’t have patience to wait 8seconds and just need to go.
Here’s an infographic from the RSA: [https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/road-safety/r2—statistics/provisional-reviews/infographic-of-fatalities-1-january-to-31-december-2023.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=b04931b6_5](https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/road-safety/r2—statistics/provisional-reviews/infographic-of-fatalities-1-january-to-31-december-2023.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=b04931b6_5)
and an Analysis:
[https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/road-safety/r2—statistics/provisional-reviews/preliminary-analysis-of-road-traffic-fatalities-1-january—26-july-202339f7a422-3462-4d1f-bf56-b7076dce5d98.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=4d7c5d68_3](https://www.rsa.ie/docs/default-source/road-safety/r2—statistics/provisional-reviews/preliminary-analysis-of-road-traffic-fatalities-1-january—26-july-202339f7a422-3462-4d1f-bf56-b7076dce5d98.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=4d7c5d68_3)
Nobody in Ireland is really trained in how to use a car, or what to do when things don’t go to plan. We’re shown how to use the car, just enough to get us out on the road.
Irish people drive based on fear and superstition, every action the government takes makes people worse at driving, the general skill levels are plummeting as the government encourages people to be more fearful while doing nothing to increase peoples skill level.
Driving slow doesn’t make someone safe. Now people seem to think if they’re crawling around the place at 50kph they are safe and they can look out the side window at what’s going on in the fields, or go on their phone, or be more engrossed in the conversation their having with the passengers in their car than what’s happening in front of them on the road. There’s now traffic on roads that never had traffic before.
Every time I see someone doing 70kph slam on their brakes when they see a speed van on an 80kph road, then crawls past the speed van doing 30kph I see an incompetent driver that shouldn’t be let on the road.
As long as the RSA are the governing body for “road safety” in Ireland this number will continue to rise.
We need a body that is serious about achieving Vision Zero.
Not just the usual micro dick, chicken nugget looking clowns causing this either.
Enraged Karen’s in their SUV’s are the latest addition to the possy of absolute c***ts on the road.
It’s probably something to do with the increasing numbers of people driving like absolute dickheads and a complete lack of enforcement of traffic laws.
1. Lack of enforcement of traffic laws (speeding, drink/drug driving, distracted driving, red light breaking, pavement parking, dangerous parking, dangerous cycling/scooters behaviour).
2. Cars are now so much heavier and higher so collisions are much more deadly for anyone not in their own personal tank.
How does that compare per capita to the rest of the world?
Are we one of the safest places with cars or one of the least safe…
I’m not a driver but I can see how bad some of them are just from being a pedestrian. For example, the amount of cars that will drive straight through a zebra crossing in full daylight while I’m standing right there waiting.
There is no roads policing apart from shooting fish in a barrel to pad the stats.
All distracted driving now. 3 x points if you’re caught
Pretty much every aspect of road safety is a political choice.
All the major causes of crashes can be comprehensively enforced with ANPR cameras (yes, including mobile phone use). Our refusal to do this is a choice.
We know how to design local streets to be safe for pedestrians. The fact that we choose to skimp on pedestrian infrastructure because it might impinge on the flow of cars is a political choice.
And we know that housing estates disconnected from any non-residential functions is a disaster for safety. But we continue to build housing like this because it’s politically easier than developing vibrant, compact towns and villages.
Enforcement and more of it. No camera will ever have the effect of actually seeing someone being pulled over. More enforcement.
The standard of driving has deteriorated significantly post covid.
You really have to be extra careful now as so many drivers are driving way too fast for the road conditions while others are glued to their mobile phones 📵 and the remainder are hell bent on jumping lanes or over taking on blind corners.
Undercover Garda bikers targeting mobile phone use would be a good start.
Otherwise Mobile phone use is very difficult to catch.
Is there any correlation between road suface/condition, and fatalities? Has anyone done research into where the accidents occur, and the state of the road? I’d be interested to see if there was a link. People swerving to avoid pot holes/bodies of water on the surface, hedgerows not maintained adecquately, that sort of thing.
And yeah, driving skill around the place leaves a lot to be desired.
But still amongst the lowest in the EU.
Phones! Always some gobshite weaving in and out of their lane on the N7. Oblivious to the 20 cars behind them want to pass. Undertake them and surprise surprise their head is buried in their phone.
Truck drivers too which really boils my blood.
[Irish road death statistics. Here comes the downvotes.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_road_traffic_accidents_deaths_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland_by_year)