Seat belts weren’t worn by 27% of victims

MORE than a quarter of people who have died on Irish roads so far this year were not wearing seat belts, new figures have revealed.

The latest statistics from gardaí and the Road Safety Authority, which were published yesterday, warn that if the current trend of drink driving, speeding and wearing no seat belts continues, a further 78 people could be dead by the end of 2018.

Speaking yesterday, RSA chief executive Moyagh Murdock said: ‘The non-wearing of seat belts still remains one of the biggest issues among those deaths, 27% of people passengers and drivers killed were not wearing a seat belt at the time.

‘If we continue on as we are, we could possibly see a further 78 people killed on our roads in this country.’

As of June 30, there were 73 collisions, resulting in the deaths of 78 people on Irish roads.

Failing to buckle up, drink driving and speeding are all cited as behaviours that are the main cause of death.

Ms Murdock continued: ‘We are looking back on last year, which was our safest year on record, but there is no time to be complacent about the gains we have made.

‘Ireland did improve on its position on the European table of performance last year, being moved up to fourth position – an improvement from the eighth position in 2016.’

May was the safest month since records began in 1969, when six people lost their lives. April and June were the two most dangerous months so far this year – with 17 people killed in both of those months.

Sunday and Friday were found to be the most dangerous days of the week.

Chief Superintendent Finbarr Murphy said he was amazed at the level of flouting of the law when it came to belting up.

‘The one that continues to amaze me is the safety belts: there was 3,900 prosecutions for that,’ he said. ‘The seat belt had a significant part in 29% of fatal collisions this year. I think it is just incredible how people get into a car and drive without a seat belt, it is still out there. And we still continue to enforce it.’

Driving while under the influence is still on the rise. Chief Supt Murphy said that from January to June, 4,274 drink drivers were prosecuted, and that just last weekend 91 people were arrested for drink driving.