Editorial: Better road safety is wish for all in 2024 - Kilkenny Live

In 2023, 184 lives were lost on Irish roads — a figure that is far too high. That is a lot of families for whom it will not be a happy new year. It’s also a number that needs to come down significantly in 2024.

We’ve been blessed so far with a very mild winter, one which has seen hardly any need to grit the roads at any point, or issue the icy road and black ice warnings that have curtailed travel on previous occasions. One thing, however, that nearly always sees an increase around Christmas/New Year is recorded incidences of drink driving detections.

While drivers are incredibly still being detected over the alcohol limit, increasing numbers of motorists are also now being caught operating under the influence of illicit substances.

The fact remains that there should be a stigma around operating a vehicle under the influence of any type of intoxicant.

One thing that seems to still escape the same level of stigma, butmust be equally culpable in accidents and bad driving, is the use of mobile phones.

The ubiquity of mobile phones, and the fact that they are no longer just phones — they are our roadmaps, GPS, instant messenger, radio/podcast platform, camera and, clearly, an addiction for many people. They simply can’t go without checking them constantly.

There’s no doubt: phones are playing a role in distracted driving; taking people’s eyes and attention off what is happening in front of them for even a split second can be fatal when in motion.

And, at a time when we are trying to encourage more people to walk and cycle, it seems that more and more pedestrians and cyclists are having to take their lives in their hands at times. The number of vulnerable road users being killed and injured is rising.

Everyone — driver, cyclist, pedestrian — needs to consider their behaviour on the roads, in terms of how we can better mind ourselves and look out for others. Let’s try and do better this year. Have a peaceful and safe 2024.