Ireland's road safety record 'worst in EU'

Official data on road fatalities in 2004 shows Ireland was the only one of the European Union's 15 member states to record a large increase in road deaths.

Despite a high-profile government road safety campaign, Irish road fatalities increased by 13.1%.

The figures compare unfavorably with an overall drop of over 7% in deaths among European road users - despite a 3% increase in the actual number of accidents. In contrast, road fatalities in the Republic rose from 335 in 2003 to 379 last year.

And there appears to be no improvement in 2005, as the number of fatalities (293) is exactly the same as in early October last year.

Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said: "The figures suggest we are not taking the problem as seriously as other countries. It demonstrates an official attitude towards a lack of desire to implement driving standards, which is also reflected in the behaviour of drivers."

National Safety Council chairman Eddie Shaw admitted the figures made Ireland's road safety performance look 'relatively bad' but he pointed out that they were based on a comparison with 2003 figures when road deaths in the Republic had reached their lowest level in 40 years.

Mr Shaw said Ireland still had a long way to go before reaching the EU target of six road deaths per 100,000 population per year, which equates to an average of around 240 deaths a year.

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