Today’s news that 100 people have now died on Irish roads in 2026 must lead to a ramp-up in action taken by the Government, Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority to make our roads safer, according to Social Democrats Transport spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.
“It has become clear that the Department of Transport doesn’t have any sort of grasp on road safety. The Government is not proactively addressing this crisis, despite its knowledge of higher numbers of road deaths year-on-year, getting steadily worse since the historic low in 2021.
“The number of personnel in Garda Road Policing Units has decreased by nearly 40%, dropping from over 1,000 officers in 2009 to approximately 645 today. There is simply not enough Garda to police road traffic offences.
“If the Garda Commissioner says that a lack of movement on the rollout of e-scooter and scrambler pursuit training is down to resources being directed to the EU Presidency, then it’s fair to assume that other elements of road safety enforcement are falling by the wayside.
“Equally, we need to have a genuine conversation about the levels of driver error and the dangerous habits that too many of our drivers are engaged in, including speeding and phone usage.
“The Cabinet is meeting on Monday to discuss e-scooters, but we have no idea what steps the Government is taking to reduce road deaths.
“The Government has refused to reform the Road Safety Authority – the Social Democrats have proposed a Road Safety Commissioner, but this suggestion was ignored.
“Today’s grim milestone reminds us that we must see genuine action from Government when it comes to road safety – we need to see the Minister, the Department, the Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority responding to this devastating trend with the urgency it requires.”
July 17th, 2026