Stop regarding road traffic deaths as inevitable tragedies says emergency medics as Govt frighteningly off course for 2030 safety target To cut road deaths, appoint a commissioner for road safety, roll out speed cameras, redesign black spots, and restore road policing, says medics.The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine have called for an urgent Government focus on road safety, saying the Governments target of no more than 72 deaths per year by 2030 is now frighteningly off course.The measures they are calling for include appointing a statutory road safety commissioner with the authority, budget and legal mandate to deliver the 2030 road safity target, rolling out automated speed cameras on high-risk routes within 12 months, black spot redesign with a funded national programme to fix the 50 highest-risk road sections identified by crash data, and a reversal of the enforcement collapse by restoring dedicated road policing numbers to at least 2014 levels.They also want what they term as parliamentary accountability, requiring every TD to state publicly whether they support these reforms. The demands are those outlined on stoproaddeaths.ie, a campaign recently started by systems economist and writer Sinad OSullivan.According to stoproaddeaths.ie, Sinn Fin, Social Democrats, and Labour support the demands, while only 20% of Fianna Fil TDs and 16% of Fine Gael TDs have so far signed up. Only one (1) independent has signed up. None of the TDs from smaller parties are listed as currently supporting the measures. The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM) said they endorse the five key demands set out by the Stop Road Deaths campaign, outlining that These are not aspirational, they are specific, evidence-based reforms that our European peers have implemented.In a statement issued by the IAEM yesterday, the group said: As doctors, we understand the difference between an unavoidable outcome and one resulting from system failures and sadly Irelands worsening road deaths are as a result of such system failures. Responsibility for road safety in Ireland is deeply fragmented with the Road Safety Authority (RSA), a multitude of government departments, including the Department of Transport, An Garda Sochna, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and 31 local authorities, all having a role with no single body accountable for outcomes.The Cabinet-approved plan to reform the RSA was abandoned in December 2025 with no plan as to how to proceed. To underscore how far backwards Ireland has gone, speeding detections have fallen 43% in a decade. Ireland operates a mere dozen or so fixed speed cameras, while Finland operates 1,164. Bizarrely, local authorities cannot access crash location data to identify dangerous roads, thus incident black spots can remain unaddressed for years, the IAEM said.They highlight that the number of road deaths last year with 190 lives lost is the highest in over a decade, with Irelands road deaths rising by 31% since 2019, when the average across the EU fell by 12%.Nearly half of those killed are vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, with cycling deaths at their highest since 2017, and motorcyclist deaths at their highest since 2007.The group said: The Governments own target of no more than 72 deaths annually by 2030 is now frighteningly off course.As the doctors staffing Irelands Emergency Departments, we see at first hand this carnage. Every week we treat patients who sustain ultimately fatal injuries or have been seriously injured. Behind every death are many more who survive with catastrophic injuries that leave permanent disability and often require years of rehabilitation. The true burden of road trauma on the health system is far greater than the fatality count might suggest, the group said. IAEM said that the Safe System Approach, which has been adopted in principle by the Irish Government and endorsed by the World Health Organisation, holds that no one should die or be seriously injured using the road network. But it said that That principle is meaningless without institutional mechanisms to deliver it.The group said that Norway, Sweden and Finland have demonstrated what is achievable, with Norway, for example, having the lowest road mortality rate in Europe of 16 deaths per million, compared to Irelands 33.The medics added: Indeed, Helsinki went an entire year without a single traffic fatality. These are not countries with fewer cars or easier terrain, they are countries that decided road deaths were a governance problem and addressed them as such. Ireland needs the political will to take the necessary steps our Scandinavian colleagues have taken. IAEM therefore calls on the government to stop regarding road traffic deaths as inevitable tragedies and instead do what is required to make Irelands roads safe for all.
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