Galway's two local authorities have launched a five-year road safety strategy aimed at cutting the number of deaths and serious injuries in half.
The strategy published on Tuesday aims to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries by 15 per cent by 2027 and 50 per cent by 2030.
According to The Irish Times, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority, Sam Waide described the plan as a “serious commitment to end all deaths and serious injuries on our roads” by 2050.
Liam Conneally, chief executive of Galway County Council, said via The Irish Times that five of the 128 road deaths in Ireland were in Galway.
The new plan is placing an emphasis on reducing speed-related collisions, "improving infrastructure and strengthening enforcement," according the The Irish Times.
In the new strategy, it was outlined that more than half of those killed or seriously injured on Galway roads in the last four years were involved in collisions caused by speeding.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed that they plan to deploy more speed detection cameras in areas where there is a history of speed related collisions.
“The primary purpose of safety cameras is to reduce speed-related collisions, lessen injuries and save lives,” the Garda spokesperson said.
Kevin Jennings of Galway Cycling Campaign said via The Irish Times that "we need to identify and reduce the sources of danger on our roads. Putting equivalent responsibility for road safety on the individuals who pose the least road danger is not right and is us shirking our joint responsibility for systemically safer roads.”
According to The Irish Independent, most serious injury or death on Irish roads between 2021-2025, occurred between 12pm and 8pm.
Galway City Mayor Helen Ogbu said via The Irish Independent that “behind every statistic is a person, a family and a community whose lives have been changed forever. As Galway continues to grow, creating a transport network that is safe and accessible for everyone is essential."
"Whether we travel by car, bicycle, on foot or by public transport, we all have a role to play in preventing collisions and protecting lives. We cannot engineer our way to safer roads through infrastructure alone, we also have to change behaviour,” she added.
