Minister for Transport Shane Ross and the Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland are calling on road users to take part in this years Road Safety Week.
The week will focus on speed and it’s role in road traffic deaths and injuries and is backed by the Road Safety Authority (RSA),An Garda Síochána, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
According to the RSA 322 people died and 74 were seriously injured in accidents involving excessive speed between 2008 and 2012. It also found that high speeds were a contributing factor in 1 in 3 fatal crashes in Ireland.
Between 2012-2016, 55 people have been killed and 397 seriously injured in incidents where speeding was the principal factor.
“In an emergency you need time and space to allow you to stop your car safely. You simply cannot do this if you are travelling too fast for the road and conditions… Even speeds a driver considers low can be lethal for vulnerable road users.”
“For example hit at 50km/h a pedestrian or cyclist has only a 50% chance of survival. My message to drivers is to slow down, drive at a speed that is appropriate to the conditions, and remember a speed limit is not a target,” said Minister Ross.
Donegal has been consistently found to have one of the highest road fatality rates in the country, and road deaths are still above average, according to latest figures.
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