2023 had highest number of Offaly road deaths of recent years

Six people lost their lives on roads in Offaly in 2023, the highest number in recent years.

The figures were revealed by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) on Monday, following an analysis of provisional fatal collision reports from An Garda Síochána.

Nationally, a total of 184 people died in 173 fatal collisions in 2023 compared to 155 deaths in 149 collisions in 2022. This represents an increase of 29 deaths or a 19% rise in road deaths compared to last year.

In Offaly, the six road fatalities in 2023, compares to 4 in 2022, zero in 2021, four in 2020, five in 2019 and two in 2018.

The RSA figures also reveal a high proportion of male fatalities, a continuation of 2022’s increased level of pedestrian fatalities and a high number of fatalities taking place at night when there is less traffic on the roads.

The majority of fatalities were male 78% (144), and 22% (40) were female.

The number of pedestrian fatalities is slightly above 2022 (+1). The last time there was a higher number of pedestrian fatalities was in 2011 (47).

Almost half of fatalities occurred between 8pm and 8am, compared with 35% in 2022, despite lower traffic volumes during these hours.

Over a quarter of fatalities were aged 16-25 years, compared with 16% in 2022.

Almost half (46%) of fatalities occurred between Friday and Sunday, where known.There were 34 passenger fatalities in 2023, representing 18% of the total road deaths that occurred in 2023.

Of the 184 road deaths in 2023, 69 were drivers, 44 were pedestrians, 34 were passengers, 26 were motorcyclists, 8 were cyclists and 3 were e-scooter users. Compared to 2022, there has been an increase in fatalities among all road user groups: drivers (+11), passengers (+12), motorcyclists (+3), pedal cyclists (+1), pedestrians (+1) and other road users (+1).

Tipperary (16), Dublin (15), Cork (15), Galway (13), Mayo (12) were the counties that recorded the highest number of deaths, accounting for 39% of the total fatalities.