Leitrim wants zero road deaths by 2050

Leitrim County Council are aiming to reduce road deaths by 50 per cent by 2030 and down to zero by 2050.

Terry McGovern, Senior Engineer, spoke to members about Leitrim's Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan explaining that the strategy is led by Roads Safety Officer Kathryne Bohan with a  Donegal Road Safety Working Group made up of people from a number of groups including staff members from Leitrim County Council, Road Design and Active Travel, the Road Safety Authority as well as An Garda Síochána Road Policing Unit.

Mr McGovern continued that in Leitrim, the average number of fatalities on the roads is just one over the last number of years however, “if you take into account serious injuries, that average comes up to 11, so we want to reduce that to nine by 2024 and down to six or less by the end of 2030.”

He said that the number of deaths on our roads has risen of late in Leitrim. “We had two fatalities this year so there is a big emphasis on this.”

In the delivery of the plan “dangerous behaviours” and “speeding” will be looked at with a number of actions set to be rolled out.

Kathryne Bohan, Roads Safety Officer, said of the 68 actions in the plan most are in the area of safe road use and looking at dangerous behaviours such as speeding, mobile phone usage, driver distraction and driver fatigue. 
"They are areas that need to be priortised to try and reduce road deaths and serious injuries. Looking at what has happened in the last few weeks and months, the task doesn't look very easy but an effort will have to be made to try and change that trend in road deaths and serious injuries," she said.

Cllr Des Guckian said the plan sets out an “unrealisable target of zero deaths by 2050” and that he felt that the Council needs major funding from central government to improve “all road surfaces”. 
He also said that speed limits need to be reduced in “key places and enforce these limits” saying there are “no speed vans to be seen and no Garda presence.”

Cllr Guckian also asked if there was a "major emergency plan in place for the N4 for the extended bypass" with Mr McGovern saying there is "a major emergency adopted in the council in place."

Mr McGovern said that "additional investment" is on the way and "all of our roadworks are designed to a standard that includes all safety elements". 

He said that speed limits are "not targets and drivers should always drive with due consideration to conditions on the road" and said a speed limit review is due to take place next year. 

Cllr Caillian Ellis said that in terms of road collisions, he felt a lot of young people "are driving cars that are too high powered" and said it was "unbelievable the speed that some people are doing" and that they are "the people causing accidents". 

Cllr Sean McDermott said that at a recent meeting he chaired, there were "huge concerns about the deaths on the roads and Tipperary is one county that has suffered greatly" adding that "defects in cars" were also a major issue. 

Cllr Brendan Barry said that if "we stood still, the tragedies would be much worse than what they are and this plan is ambitious and trying to lower it as much as possible."

Cathaoirleach Cllr Justin Warnock said a lot of work needs to be done "as individuals and drivers" and the council "can pick up on the other issues alongside law enforcement."