New figures reveal 1,900 injured on roads this year
Around 1,900 people have been seriously injured on the country’s roads so far this year, safety chiefs warned today.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) released the shocking statistics as it urged road users to heed the message of grief-stricken mother Ursula Quinn ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Mrs Quinn, who lost her daughter in a road crash in 2002, is engaging in a 240km walk (149 mile) urging drivers to follow her message: ‘Driving kills - so slow down, don’t drink and drive, and always wear a seatbelt’.
“The campaign is to highlight the life-long pain and suffering caused by this daily road carnage,” she said. Our aim is to raise funds which will be used to promote public awareness and also to help provide counselling for the bereaved.”
Figures show 240 people have died on the roads so far this year, up 16 on the same period last year.
The death toll includes 40 pedestrians, 113 drivers, 61 passengers, 21 motorcyclists and five pedal cyclists.
Safety chiefs estimate around eight times the number killed receive serious injuries in the road collisions. It is believed around 1,920 people may have received serious injuries in crashes so far this year.
The RSA said it was continuing its Arrive Alive summer road safety campaign to support the Garda enforcement activity over the August Bank Holiday weekend targeting drink drivers.
Safety chiefs said Mrs Quinn is just one of the countless numbers of parents grieving over the loss of a son or daughter in a road collision over the past few years.
Mrs Quinn’s 19-year-old daughter Shauna died in a crash on September 21, 2002 at Ballybrittas in Co Laois.
On Thursday, Mrs Quinn set out on a nine-day trek to walk 240km from Lurgan Co Armagh to Ballybrittas, Co Laois, to highlight her campaign.
| Related Stories: |
|
