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Donegal's 'appalling' road death
toll
08.06.11
THE equivalent of a
town's population was killed or injured on the roads
of Co Donegal in the last 15 years.
307 people died and almost 1,200 were seriously
injured on the roads of the county between 1996 and
2009. But the figure does not include the last three
years including the eight men killed in the State's
worst ever crash at Glasmullen, Clonmany, last July. |
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The scene at Glasmullen
Clonmany where eight men died in a car crash last
July. |
The stark statistics
were published in a report compiled by the Road
Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána as part of a
new county-by-county focus on road safety. The
‘Donegal - Your Road to Safety’ event was held at
Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
The figures outlined also show that Co Donegal
accounted for 6% of fatalities in Ireland during the
period examined, despite making up only 3.5% of the
population.
Donegal was chosen as the county to launch the new
road safety programme because of this tragic death
toll.
RSA chief executive Noel Brett said the county's
record was 'appalling' but he said things were
improving and the number of deaths had fallen.
The launch also heard that speed was a factor in
two-in-five fatalities in Co Donegal during the
period studied while almost 28% of those killed were
young men aged 17 to 24.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Kieran Kenny told the
event that the force's 'Operation Face' had made a
positive impact to road safety. 'Operation Face'
targets specific drivers while the detection of a
range of offences had increased significantly. This
included a rise of 82% in speeding detections.
Meanwhile, the RSA chief praised the Donegal Road
Safety Working Group as being one of the most active
in the country and he hoped other counties could
learn from them. There was also some advice for
those attending the upcoming Donegal Rally. |
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