Only four Irish counties have not had someone die on roads so far this year as concerns raised over surge in fatalities

The revelation came as gardaí confirmed that 70 people have died on Irish roads to date in 2024 – almost a third higher than the death toll for the same period last year.

That is despite the fact that 2023 ranked as the deadliest year on Irish roads for over a decade.

Cork has recorded Ireland’s highest roads death toll this year, with 10 deaths in motor accidents – just three below the total for all of 2022.

Mayo, with eight fatalities, Dublin with seven and Kildare with five are the counties with the next highest number of road deaths.

In just four months this year, Kildare recorded more road deaths than in the whole of 2023 or 2022.

Only four Irish counties – Longford, Leitrim, Laois and Monaghan – have avoided a fatality in a traffic collision this year.

Concern over the ongoing surge in road deaths has prompted safety campaigners to demand urgent action.

Of the 70 deaths this year, 27 involved drivers; 12 were pedestrians; 19 involved passengers; nine were motorcyclists and three involved pedal cyclists.

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Almost 40pc of those who died were under the age of 35.

Road safety group, Parc warned that the death toll would continue to mount until the crackdown on road safety is fully resourced.

Parc founder Susan Gray has also called for reform of the driving test regime, greater driver education and stricter enforcement of road-safety regulations.

She said the surge in road deaths should be treated as a national priority by everyone in the Government and in road-safety agencies.

“What is worrying is that the (road fatality) numbers have been going in the wrong direction both in 2022 and in 2023,” she said.

Ms Gray added that Parc’s study of the county breakdown of fatality figures raised issues which warrant careful study.

She also called for great analysis of road safety data on a national and county basis and queried “discrepancies” between garda and RSA data.

Road Safety Authority (RSA) chairperson Liz O’Donnell warned that Ireland cannot tolerate the “level of carnage on the roads”.

Last year was the worst recorded for road deaths in over a decade – but 2024 is on course to be the most lethal year for traffic fatalities in a quarter of a century.

Ms O’Donnell said RSA research has shown “high levels of non-compliance” on the roads, including speeding, use of mobile phones and driving while intoxicated.

“We cannot continue with this level of carnage on the roads. We’re gone back now – it is the highest in 10 years and we were doing really well internationally. We were the leading lights in road safety,” Ms O’Donnell said.

Worryingly, the surge in road deaths came as personnel within dedicated Garda Road Policing Units (RPUs) fell by almost 20pc over the past seven years.

In 2022 , Garda RPUs had 692 members but that fell to 688 last year.

It has now plummeted to 627 officers.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has ordered that every officer on duty must undertake at least 30 minutes of road policing daily in a bid to combat the spiral in road deaths.

RSA research found that the highest-risk age among road users last year was those aged 16-25 years.

This group represented 26pc of total fatalities (48 deaths) and the figures represented an overall increase of 23 road-user fatalities compared to 2022.

However, the percentage of young people dying on Irish roads has soared by over 15pc this year and now accounts for close to half of all fatalities.

At the current rate of traffic fatalities, Ireland is on course to record over 225 deaths by December 31 – which would make it the worst year for road safety in more than a quarter of a century.

Junior Transport Minister Jack Chambers confirmed that proposals on reform of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) will be brought before the Government within the next five months.

His remarks came after a coalition of Irish road safety groups warned that the RSA was “no longer fit for purpose” – and pleaded for extra resources for gardaí.

Mr Chambers insisted the review was aimed at assessing whether the authority – which was established almost two decades ago – needs modernisation and to adapt to changing road safety demands.

However, the Dublin TD acknowledged that Ireland also urgently needed to address issues over the enforcement of road safety regulations.

“Enforcement levels have collapsed,” he said.

“We need to see tangible allocations to (garda) Roads Policing Units.”

However, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín criticised the measure as “a sticking plaster” solution to a horrendous problem facing the State.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) warned that frontline resources were now a major issue for the force as it responded to multiple operational challenges.

Garda Roads Policing director Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman insisted the force was diverting newly recruited personnel into traffic units nationwide. Garda chiefs said they hope to have 75 more officers assigned to RPUs by December 31.