Road Deaths Fall Sharply!
Updated : Jul 22, 2009
Road deaths fell sharply last year according to figures out today.
Fatalities dropped 17.5% on Irish roads in 2008 – 2,645 recorded deaths last year compared with 3,059 in 2007.
The picture is similar elsewhere in Europe and across the world – road deaths down 13.5% in the UK, 13.6% in Belgium, 9.7% in America, and 8.5% in Australia.
The Paris-based International Transport Forum (ITF) says the figures reflect improved road safety measures and enforcement, but also lower traffic volumes:
“Certainly the economic downturn has had a significant short-term impact on traffic volumes in some countries, but the relative importance of traffic volume and (road safety) policy in reducing fatalities can not yet be disentangled with certainty.â€
Taking into account fewer kilometres travelled, the percentage cut in road deaths last year in the Republic of Ireland was still 17%, according to the ITF figures.
In America, where there was a much bigger reduction in estimated “vehicle-kilometres†travelled, the net fall in road deaths is put at 6%.
The ITF says firm conclusions cannot yet be drawn from the 2008 figures on the effectiveness of recent road safety advances and tougher policing.
Instead, longer-term trends are more relevant to policy analysis, and these show smaller and variable falls in road death rates over the three decades up to 2000.
In 1970-80, the road deaths rate rose by 0.4% in Ireland, then fell by 1.6% (1980-90), 1.4% (1990-2000), and 4.8% (2000-2008).