THE ROAD SAFETY Authority has released more details about last year’s fatalities on Irish roads.
Following last week’s report that the number of people who lost their lives rose for the first time in eight year, the agency has released a review of those figures.
It shows that of the 190 people killed in road incidents, 127 were in vehicles, five were travelling on bicycles, 27 on motorcycles and 31 were pedestrians.
The deaths of motorcyclists is a 44 per cent increase on 2012 fatalities.
There was a 22 per cent increase in driver fatalities and, of those, 80 per cent were male and 17 per cent were not wearing a seatbelt.
About 38 per cent of pedestrians knocked over and killed were older than 60 years of age.
The new data also revealed that the afternoon (between 2pm and 6pm) is the most dangerous time to use the roads. During those hours, 27 per cent of fatalities occurred.
The most dangerous day of the week is Friday, followed by Sunday and Monday.
January and August tied for the most fatal month on Ireland’s roads with 19 deaths each, followed by July with 18 fatalities.
Speaking last week, Gay Byrne, the head of the Road Safety Authority said Ireland had ‘dropped our guard’ when it comes to road deaths and, as a result, had killed 27 more people.
“It’s a stark way to put it but it’s the truth. It represents a very worrying development and highlights the need for all road users to be more vigilant.”
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