Ireland’s road safety record bucks EU trend with 31 per cent rise in fatalities since 2019

Seán McCárthaigh

Road fatalities across the EU decreased by 3 per cent last year, while deaths on Irish roads increased by 7 per cent.

New figures published by the European Commission show the increase in fatal road traffic collisions in Ireland is bucking the general downward trend recorded in most EU member states in recent years.

The number of fatalities on Irish roads has increased by 31 per cent since 2019, while road deaths across the EU dropped by 15 per cent over the same time period.

The figures also highlight how Ireland was one of only three EU countries to experience a deteriorating road safety record between 2019 and 2024.

According to a report by the European Commission, there was a significant increase in deaths since 2019 among pedestrians, powered two-wheeler riders and in urban areas in Ireland.

The number of people seriously injured on Irish roads between 2019 and 2024 also rose by 1 per cent to 1,523.

However, road safety campaigners claim the figure is likely to be an underestimate of the true number as the Road Safety Authority only records data from gardai on serious collisions.

Overall, the report said there were around 19,400 fatalities in road collisions across the EU last year – a decrease of 580 on 2024 figures.

“Given the increase in vehicles on EU roads and kilometres driven, this is a significant achievement,” the report stated.

However, it said the figures also highlighted the need for sustained efforts at all levels as most EU countries are not yet on track to meet the EU’s goal of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

Only five EU member states are currently on target to meet the 50 per cent reduction target rate – Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Poland and Romania.

The European Commission said the latest figures show Ireland is not on track to meet its 2030 road safety targets to cut its annual road fatalities by 50 per cent from a 2020 baseline.

In the case of Ireland, the annual number of road fatalities would need to fall to 72 to meet the target.

The total number of deaths on roads in the Republic last year was 190 – the highest annual figure in a decade.

So far this year, 40 people have been killed in road traffic collisions – eight more than the corresponding period in 2025.

As in previous years, Sweden and Denmark continue to have the safest roads in Europe with fatality rates of 20 and 23 deaths per million population respectively.

The rate in Ireland last year was 34 deaths per million population – up from 32 in 2024 – but still below the EU average of 42 last year.

It was the joint 6th lowest rate in 2025 together with Germany.

According to the report, the most dangerous roads in the EU last year were in Bulgaria with a road fatality rate of 71 per million population.

The European Commission said a growing concern was the disproportionately high share of young people aged 18-24 and older people aged over 65 in road deaths, particularly among pedestrians and cyclists.

In a mid-term report on implementation of the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-20140 published last month, the European Commission said enforcement of road traffic rules remains a challenge with structural shortages of police officers as well as a shortage of automated camera systems.

It also claimed there is limited social acceptance of enforcement measures.

“Public resistance to automated enforcement, lower speed limits, and stricter penalties reflects a broader cultural indifference to the need to prioritise safety over mobility convenience,” the report observed.

It also claimed that political will at all levels remains “inconsistent” with road safety often treated as a technical rather than a political issue.

In relation to Ireland, the report said the main gap in the implementation of the Government’s first Road Safety Action Plan is “funding/resource constraints.”

The chairperson of the road safety group, PARC, Susan Gray, said she believed the main problem is that “the Government is not taking road safety seriously enough.”

“They have allowed a massive decline in gardaí being assigned to roads policing units from 1,046 in 2009 to 648 last January.

Gray added: “They have failed to address the huge ongoing issue of drivers avoiding penalty points when convicted in court. The list is endless.”

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