The rising number of fatalities on the Ireland’s roads has led to calls for greater enforcement of traffic laws and an enhanced focus on driver behaviour.

The latest figures from An Garda Síochána show that, up to the weekend, 165 people have died on the roads since the beginning of the year. That compares with a death toll of 155 people for all of 2022.

A third of those killed in 2023 have been under the age of 25, a quarter have been pedestrians, while passengers account for a fifth of fatalities.

Gardaí, politicians and campaigners have all expressed concern at the increase in 

The Irish Road Victims’ Association (IRVA) says that high visibility policing is the only way to effectively tackle the problem. While there has been a reduction in the number of officers allocated to roads policing, Gardaí say the numbers deployed in that area “remain consistently higher” as a percentage of the entire organisation. 

Meanwhile, plans to reduce speed limits on many of Ireland’s roads will have a “significant impact” on improving safety, a minister has said.

Minister of state Jack Chambers, who has responsibility for roads safety, is backing proposals to lower several speed limit baselines.

The speed limit review has been ongoing for two years, but Chambers said work to implement the reductions would be fast-tracked amid concerns around rising road deaths in Ireland.