Lower speed limits and more roadside speed-safety cameras are among the 50 actions contained in a new strategy to significantly reduce road deaths in Co Galway.
The strategy, published on Tuesday, aims to reduce road fatalities and serious injury by 15 per cent by 2027, and 50 per cent by 2030.
The ultimate national target is described in the plan by Sam Waide, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), as a “serious commitment to end all deaths and serious injuries on our roads” by 2050.
Between 2021 and 2025, 51 people were killed on Galway roads and 360 people were seriously injured. People aged between 16 and 25 accounted for more than one in five casualties.
Liam Conneally, chief executive of Galway County Council, said five of the 128 road deaths in Ireland so far this year occurred in Galway.
Fifty actions are set out in the plan launched by Galway City Council, Galway County Council, the RSA and gardaí. An emphasis is placed on reducing speed-related collisions, improving infrastructure and strengthening enforcement.
The new strategy outlined how more than half of those killed or seriously injured on Galway roads between 2021-2025 were involved in collisions on roads with speed limits of 80km/h or higher.
Collisions on roads with speed limits of 30km/h or less accounted for just 3 per cent of the 411 people seriously injured or killed on Galway roads in the same period.
Uinsinn Finn, director of services with responsibility for physical development, said Galway County Council would publish a speed-limit review in the next month.
The review will propose reductions in speed limits to 30km/h in the “urban core of towns across the county”, he said.
Gardaí confirmed they will deploy more safety or speed-detection cameras by 2030 in areas where there is a history of speed-related collisions.
“The primary purpose of safety cameras is to reduce speed-related collisions, lessen injuries and save lives,” a Garda spokesperson said.
Mayor of Galway City, Cllr Helen Ogbu, said driver behaviour needed to change. “Dangerous driving can never be excused – it is unacceptable,” she said.
Leas Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council Michael Regan said every community has been impacted by deaths and serious injuries resulting from road collisions. “Too often, poor driver behaviour is a factor,” he said.
Kevin Jennings of Galway Cycling Campaign said: “We need to identify and reduce the sources of danger on our roads. Putting equivalent responsibility for road safety on the individuals who pose the least road danger is not right and is us shirking our joint responsibility for systemically safer roads.”