No increase in August road deaths

ROAD DEATHS for August remained the same as 2007, according to statistics released by the Garda National Traffic Bureau.

ROAD DEATHS for August remained the same as 2007, according to statistics released by the Garda National Traffic Bureau.

Provisional figures from the Garda showed the number of fatal road incidents in August was 28, identical to the number in 2007 and nearly double the 2006 figure.

Almost 200 people have died in road incidents so far this year, a 10 per cent reduction on last year. The corresponding figure for 2007 was 223.

Road-users killed on the State’s roads this year included 92 drivers, 40 passengers, 29 pedestrians and 22 motorcyclists.

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The statistics come in the wake of six fatalities on the roads last weekend, including two motorcyclists.

On Monday, a 36-year-old woman died when the car she was driving hit a lamp-post on the M1 at Gormanston, Co Meath, shortly after 9am. There were no other passengers in the car.

While the number of deaths resulting from car crashes has decreased, it has been reported that the percentage of pedestrians and motorcyclists being killed is on the increase.