A local councillor has described as ‘alarming’ the news that Donegal now accounts for 10% of the nation’s road deaths, despite only making up 3% of the population.
As of today, 69 road fatalities have occurred on Irish roads so far this year. Of these, seven (10.14%) have been recorded in Donegal.
The stark figures were revealed at a Corporate Policy Group (CPG) meeting between senior Donegal County Council officials and councillors last week.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle, who was at the meeting, is the chair of the Donegal Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP). He said road safety was discussed at length following three fatalities in two separate crashes in the county over a 24-hour period on the weekend of the 16th and 17th May.
“The deaths over that weekend were the focus of the meeting and we discussed how we can stop this,” Cllr McGonagle said.
“A senior council engineer pointed out we have just 3% of population, but 10% of road deaths which is alarming. And, it’s not the fault of bad roads – the (road safety) message does not seem to be landing with people.”
Cllr McMonagle suggested that a new, stronger, council-led road safety campaign needs to be launched and implemented.
“We need to discuss these issues now, maybe we need another road safety meeting. Too many people in Donegal are losing their lives on our roads – something is inherently wrong up here.”
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He also called on both Gardaí and the council to ‘give average speed cameras a chance’.
“The council executive sees that too. The guards have the control over the cameras and where they are situated, and we need to get them on board to look at that.”
An average speed camera is a system that monitors your vehicle’s speed over a set distance, rather than at a single point. For example, cameras located between Letterkenny and Ballybofey would track your entry and exit times between the two locations and calculate your average speed; if it exceeds the limit, you face a fine.
Donegal County Council have been contacted for a comment in relation to the recent road deaths and in relation to road safety campaigns.