Call for action on road safety in Derry as Road Safety Week commences

Figures from the PSNI show that as of Monday 20th Nov 2023, 58 people have been killed in collisions, a figure that was at 45 for the same period in 2022 and 39 in 2021. With six weeks left of 2023 there is the potential for this figure to increase even more.

Of those figures for this year, 15 have been pedestrians, 18 were drivers, 10 passengers, one pedal cyclist 11 motorcyclists and three other road users.

Davy Jackson Chair of Road Safety NI, said: “Today’s figures graphically illustrate the weekly carnage taking place on roads across Northern Ireland. People here are loosing their lives at a rate of more than one every week. We can not allow this to continue

“Every road user can and must play their part to help make our roads safer by driving or riding or walking with care, courtesy and consideration.

"More money needs to be spent on road safety campaigns. We all remember the very effective hard hitting television advertisements by the Department for Infrastructure in past years, they were the envy of the world and it is no coincidence that the year there was the greatest spending on their tv campaign was the year we recorded the lowest road deaths ever in Northern Ireland. The Department’s budget needs to be reinstated.

“Our friends in Roads Policing need more resources, they need more officers visible on the ground to deter the mobile phone usage, drink and drug driving, speeding, careless and dangerous driving among other offences. We need greater funding for more road safety education in both primary and post primary schools.

"All these measures will help and for those who talk about the cost of to implement them, the cost pales into insignificance when measured against the cost of one fatal RTC to the economy. It is estimated that every fatal crash costs £1.8 million, just multiply that by the figure of 58 this year alone and it puts everything in perspective. Add to that the human cost which is incalculable.

“We call on all our politicians and anyone with influence to put road safety at the top of their agenda. Let’s Stop the carnage now”