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May Bank Holiday road safety
appeal
03.05.19
AHEAD of the May Bank
Holiday Weekend, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and
An Garda Síochána are reminding motorcyclists to
‘ease off the throttle' and keep within the speed
limit as we enter the high risk summer period for
motorcycling.
Previous RSA research has shown that bikers speeding
is a factor in half of motorcyclist fatal
collisions.
Preliminary results from a recent RSA survey of 450
motorcyclists, found that 12% of participants
reported having been involved in a road collision in
the past two years while three in five had a near
miss in the same period. July was found to be the
most dangerous month for collisions involving
motorcyclists. |
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To date in 2019, there have been four
fatal collisions involving motorcyclists, three more
than the same time last year. |
The RSA and Gardaí are
also highlighting the misuse of quad bikes and
scramblers on the road and in public spaces such as
parks. These vehicles pose particular dangers to
young people; three of the four people who died in
Ireland as a result of an incident involving a quad
bike or scrambler were aged 18 or under.
Mr Keith Synnott consultant at the National Spinal
Injuries Unit in the Mater hospital said: "Quad
bikes and scramblers are not toys, they are heavy,
dangerous pieces of machinery that can cause life
changing injuries or death. Riders risk spinal
injury following a collision on a quad bike or
scrambler. Impacts often happen on areas of uneven
ground or as a result of unstable vehicles,
especially in the hands of children, leading to
people falling and landing awkwardly or the vehicle
landing on the rider.”
In 2018 there were 15 motorcyclist deaths on Irish
roads, just over 60% of which occurred on rural
roads with speed limits of 80km/h or higher. The
majority of fatal collisions involved males aged
between 21 and 56.
To date in 2019, there have been four fatal
collisions involving motorcyclists, three more than
the same time last year. |
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