Inishowen road safety campaigner, Susan Gray has welcomed the news that Donegal is on track for one of its's lowest road death levels with just two deaths recored in the first four months this year.
The figure in the first four months of the year is in line with the national trend which has seen road deaths drop by 40 per cent in the last two months, moving Ireland into the EU’s top ten for road safety.
This year’s record reflects the trend o
f recent years which has seen the number of people killed on the county’s roads drop from 22 in 2006 to just nine last year.
Thirty-eight people died on Ireland’s roads in March and April of this year, down from 64 on the year before.
However, Susan Gray said while the figures were encouraging the most dangerous time on the county's roads was still to come. Mrs. Gray, who lost her husband to a road traffic accident, said June and July were the most dangerous times of the year in the county when there was increased traffic due to holiday-makers.
She also called for the lowering of the alcohol limit from 80mg to 20mg, which would effectively be a zero limit, meaning just one drink would leave drivers over the limit.
The Inishowen woman also said more attention should be given to the number of people who were injured in road accidents. “People suffer terrible injuries such as brain injuries and while we have the dead there is the living dead as well,” she said.
“While the figures this year are encouraging we should wait until the end of the year and see what the overall figure is before we get too excited about it. But it is encouraging to go from 22 in 2006 to 9 last year and we have lost an awful lot of people.”
The full article contains 322 words and appears in Journal Tuesday newspaper.
