Tipperary was the county worst affected by road deaths last year.
That's according to an article in the Irish Independent.
Tipperary saw two separate collisions in August last year in which a total of seven people were killed.
A total of 16 road deaths occurred in the county, an increase of 229% on 2022.
Carlow had no road deaths in 2022 but four last year.
Waterford saw three road deaths in 2023 and 2022.
On the contrary, two South East counties noted decreases in deaths, out of a total of three.
Kilkenny saw a drop from nine in 2022 down to four last year, while Wexford dropped from nine to three.
Limerick was the only other county to note a decrease, with 10 recorded in 2022 and seven in 2023.
In total, there were 183 road deaths last year. 68 drivers, 43 pedestrians, 34 passengers, 25 motorcyclists, seven cyclists, four e-scooter drivers, and one motorcycle passenger were lost.
The majority of fatalities were male 78% (144), and 22% (40) were female.
Almost half of fatalities occurred between 8 pm and 8 am, compared with 35% in 2022, despite lower traffic volumes during these hours.
Over a quarter of fatalities were aged 16-25 years, compared with 16% in 2022.
The figures released by the Road Safety Authority come as it's been revealed that this was one of the safest Christmas periods on record.
There were two fatalities between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Garda 'brain-drain'
It's feared that the number of Gardaí that are 'brain-draining' to Dublin will threaten road safety plans for the rest of Ireland.
Garda personnel in the Roads Policing Units have dropped by 13% since 2021.
Some road safety campaigners fear that the focus on policing units in Dublin will leave shortages of personnel in other counties that saw a surge in road deaths last year.
In November of last year, the number of Gardaí in Road Policing Units had fallen from 736 to 641.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has demanded action on key road safety issues.
The Junior Transport Minister, Jack Chambers, has vowed a tougher crackdown on learner drivers is on the way this year.
He has warned that they will not get a new permit if they do not sit a driving test.
For all the latest, check out Beat102103.com.
