Next road safety strategy to focus on cyclists and pedestrians
Pedestrians and cyclists are to be the focus of the country's next road safety strategy.
New figures show there has been a 68% reduction in road fatalities since the first government plan was introduced in 1998.
Experts from Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Slovenia are gathered at Dublin Castle for a major road safety conference being hosted by the RSA.
It is creating a second road safety government strategy to replace the current one, which has been in existence since 1998.
During that time, there has been a significant reduction in lives lost on the roads, with 458 people killed in 1998, compared to 146 in 2018.
The new strategy will focus on pedestrians and cyclists with 42 pedestrians and nine cyclists killed on the roads last year.
Liz O'Donnell, Chair of the Road Safety Authority, said we need to move away from just driver safety.
Ms O'Donnell said: “The next national road safety strategy will have new elements to take account of a changing society, environment and lifestyles. Technology will transform our capabilities.
"The climate change agenda too will influence our endeavours. How citizens want to live their lives too; and a huge interest in healthy cities and public transportation modes must be accommodated.
"Cycling and walking must ascend the pecking order in terms of priority.”
