More than one in three people killed on Irish roads so far this year were under the age of 30.
The latest findings from the Irish Independent, show 19 people who lost their lives in road traffic incidents in 2024 were under the age of 20.
37 were under the age of 30 which is just over 35% of the fatalities on Irish roads in 2024.
97 people have died on Irish roads so far this year, an increase of 12 people compared to the same time last year.
The findings from the Irish Independent also reveal that 10 children and young people have been killed on Irish roads. That's just under 10% of the total number of fatalities.
In the South East region, three people under the age of 18 died in road traffic incidents this year.
15-year-old Lead O'Meara from Thurles died when the car she was travelling in crashed on the R503 at Rearcross, near Nenagh, in County Tipperary on February 15th.
Two friends, 15-year-old Gilbert Collins and 17-year-old Avuzwa Idris died after their e-scooter was in a collision with a bus last week on the Cork Road in Waterford City.
Earlier this week, three serious road collisions happened on the roads in less than 12 hours.
The crashes in counties Westmeath and Mayo claimed the lives of four people, including an 8-year-old girl.
Two men, aged in their 80s and 50s died in separate crashes in County Westmeath while a mother and her young daughter died in a collision in County Mayo.
According to Road Safety Group PARC, there has been an increase in road deaths in counties across the South East region, compared to the while of 2023.
In 2023, across the five counties in the region, 30 people lost their lives. From January 1st to July 5th 2024, 17 people lost their lives on Irish roads.
Carlow - Four road deaths were recorded in 2023, compared to five road deaths so far this year.
Kilkenny - Four road deaths were recorded in 2023, compared to one road death so far this year.
Waterford - Three road deaths were recorded in 2023, compared to five road deaths in 2024.
Wexford - Three road deaths were recorded in 2023, while three people have died so far this year.
Tipperary - Sixteen road deaths were recorded in 2023, compared to two road deaths this year.
According to the Irish Independent, Taoiseach Simon Harris described road safety as "a priority issue" when he assumed office earlier this year but opposition politicians and road safety advocates have called for more immediate action as a concerning trend in fatalities continues.
Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty, says they're very concerned about the high number of road deaths.
"The first quarter of 2024 was quite difficult. We had 59 fatalities compared to 42 in 2023.
"The second quarter up to June 2024, showed some signs of improving behaviour on the roads. But unfortunately we still had 25 fatalities, down from 41 the previous year.
"There are signs there that as a community group of drivers and road users, everyone can make an impact here in terms of reducing fatalities on our roads."
The following details have been released by An Garda Síochána
Traffic fatalities up to 9am on 5th July 2024
Drivers - 35
Passengers - 22
Pedestrians - 21
Motorcyclists - 12
Pedal Cyclists - 5
E-Scooter Driver/Passenger - 2
Total: 97
Extra garda checkpoints will be prevalent in the South East this Summer.
Gardaí across the region are taking part in the high-visibility crime prevention operation called Operation Coinním.
The initiative will run throughout the Summer and will involve what Gardaí have described as “high visibility beat/mobile patrolling schedule”.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, Beat102103.com.
