The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is urging people nationwide to get involved in the sixth annual ‘Irish Road Safety Week’, the national drive to save lives and prevent injury on Irish roads. This year, ‘Irish Road Safety Week’ will run from Monday 7 October to Sunday 13 October.
The greatest increase in road deaths this year has been among motorcyclists, with ten more fatalities to date in 2013 (23) compared to the same period in 2012 (13). This trend was spotted early in the year, and back at the beginning of July we reported that:
There’s little in the way of good news for riders in the latest road safety report from An Garda Síochána which shows fatalities trending upwards from the record lows achieved over the past few years.
A long spell of good summer weather running well into Autumn saw motorcycle deaths rise from 13 when we posted about the trend early in July to 23 as of 5th October. Ten further tragedies that will forever affect those whose lives were touched by the loss of a loved one.
This from our post in July referred to a road safety report from An Garda Síochána:
The Garda report covers 48 collisions between the 1st January 2011 and 2nd July 2013. One of the most alarming facts to emerge is that three out of every four collisions involve another vehicle. The four most common types of collision involving motorcyclists and other vehicles were:
Of course not all accidents involving another vehicle are the fault of that other vehicle, and it goes without saying that there are still one in four fatalities which resulted from single vehicle collisions. |
The common factor then seems to be an increase in collisions with other vehicles. We all know that regardless of fault, hitting or being hit by any sort of vehicle will not end well for the rider.
Irish Road Safety Week 2013 – Oct 7th to 13th
Irish Road Safety Week is an opportunity for each of us – as riders, drivers, pedestrians, cyclists – to take an honest look at our own behaviour and ask ourselves what we can do to prevent further tragedy on our roads.
Ultimately, we as riders may pay just as heavy a price for our own mistakes as we do for the mistakes of others. There are steps you can take to cut your own risk. Ride responsibly. Wear proper gear. Stay sober. Take advanced rider training. It’s not rocket science, and it does make a difference.
We cannot control the behavior of other road users but we can adapt our riding to avoid the worst mistakes – ours and theirs. More often than not, that’ll be all it takes to arrive safe.
See also: https://www.magireland.org/2013/news-media/drivers-urged-to-think-bike/
Road Safety Week: http://www.rsa.ie/RSA/Road-Safety/Campaigns/Current-road-safety-campaigns/Irish-Road-Safety-week-2013/
First Bike on Scene: http://www.bikerstraining.com/