Comment: Take care on the roads and arrive alive

The May bank holiday weekend signalled the arrival of Summer. With plenty of events to look forward to, in what will be the first restriction-free Summer post Covid, it should be a cause of great celebration.

A dark shadow was cast over the weekend, however, as three men lost their lives on our roads on the Bank Holiday Monday in three separate road accidents and a number of other people were seriously injured, some of them remain in a critical condition.

Going into the weekend, as of 9am on Friday, 29th April, gardaí had recorded 56 fatalities on Irish roads so far this year. As we go to print, that number has climbed to 59.

It’s a sharp increase on the same period in 2021, when 37 people had lost their lives in road accidents.

Quoting figures and statistics seems cold. These were 59 people, much loved by their families and friends. They never made it home.

Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the latest victims - a man in his 70s who was killed following an accident in Ballinalack, County Westmeath; a man in his 40s in Trim; and another man in his 40s near Buncrana in Co Donegal, a county that has been plagued by road deaths for years.

A woman was seriously injured in an accident in Granard, Co Longford, on Saturday morning and was airlifted to hospital; while another woman was seriously injured in the fatal collision in Donegal. All above accidents remain under investigation and there is no suggestion of any fault or blame on the part of the drivers or others involved in the incidents.

But road users, generally, need to consider their behaviour on the roads. When are we going to take heed of road safety advice and slow down?

The Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority issue appeal, after appeal and ad campaign after ad campaign but they appear to have little effect.

We all need to think of someone who has lost their life on the roads, a family left bereft, and keep them in our minds when we get behind the wheel or head out for a walk or cycle.

The messages are simple: Slow down, wear your seat belt, never ever drink and drive, don’t use your phone while driving and watch out for other road users, particularly pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Ireland’s fifth government Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 aims to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50 per centover the next 10 years.

This means reducing deaths on Ireland’s roads annually from 144 to 72 or lower and reducing serious injuries from 1,259 to 630 or lower by 2030.

The strategy is the first step in achieving the 2020 Programme for Government commitment of bringing Ireland to ‘Vision Zero’. This is to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by the year 2050.

We are only a third of the way through this year and we are already at 59 deaths.

We have a lot more work to do but the power is in our hands.

The summer stretches before us. Let’s make it an enjoyable one. Please take care.