Connacht Tribune
3,200 Galway drivers aged over 80 – nine of them learners!
There were more than 3,200 licenced drivers over the age of 80 on Galway’s roads last year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show – including nine on learner permits.
The CSO’s ‘Transport Omnibus 2016’ shows that for drivers with full licences in Galway, there were 1,978 drivers aged 17-20; 5,915 aged 21-24; 11,653 aged 25-29; 33,987 aged 30-39; 32,839 aged 40-49’ 25,818 aged 50-59; 19,873 aged 60-69; 10,961 aged 70-79 and 3,253 were over 80.
For those on learner permits, 99 were under 17; 3,048 aged 17-20; 2,430 aged 21-24; 1,896 aged 25-29; 2,784 aged 30-39; 1,196 aged 40-49; 471 aged 50-59; 209 aged 60-69; 62 aged 70-79 and nine aged over 80.
The average waiting time for a driving test in 2016 was 16 weeks in Loughrea, 15 weeks in Galway and twelve weeks in both Tuam and Clifden.
There were a total of 158,471 driving licences in Galway last year – 131,223 were ten-year licenses; 10,220 triennial licenses; 525 annual licences and 12,205 learner permits.
A breakdown of the figures shows that there were 76,658 male full licence holders and 69,609 female, while there were 6,201 male learners and 6,003 female.
The Transport Omnibus also shows there were a total of 145,837 vehicles on the road in Galway last year, based on licensing authority figures.
This included 109,271 private cars, 1,385 motorbikes, 20,756 goods vehicles, 5,669 tractors, 1,478 PSV vehicles (taxis, hackneys etc); 2,008 vehicles are classed as ‘exempt’ and another 5,270 classed as ‘others’.
In 2016, there were a total of 7,298 new vehicles licensed in Galway, up from 6,481 the previous year.
Figures for the National Car Test (NCT) shows that in Ballinasloe, 8,100 vehicles passed first time; 7,229 failed the initial test; 6,630 passed on a re-test and 558 failed on the retest.
In the Clifden test centre, 1,709 passed first time and 2,808 failed; 2,487 passed on a re-test and 273 failed the re-test.
In Galway City, 27,343 passed first time; 32,539 failed the first time; 29,277 passed the re-test and 3,021 failed the re-test.
Meanwhile, more than 43,000 motorists in Galway had penalty points on their driving licences at the end of last year.
Speeding and mobile phone usage continue to be the biggest offences on Galway’s roads.
The ‘Transport Omnibus 2016’ report shows that in Galway, there were 43,055 drivers with points (points remain on the licence for a period of three years), which was up 1.2% from 42,462 at the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, in 2016, a total of 10,436 penalty point notices were issued in Galway – 5,975 to males and 3,836 to females, while no gender was recorded in 625 cases.
A breakdown of the Top 10 offences for men in Galway shows 3,699 for speeding; 1,044 for driving while holding a phone; 260 adults for failing to wear a seat belt in a car; 179 for driving without reasonable consideration; 136 for driving without an NCT; 90 for failing to obey traffic lights; 69 for crossing a continuous white line; 54 unaccompanied learners; 52 for no insurance and 25 for not displaying an L-plate.
Speeding was also the main offence for female drivers in Galway in 2016 (2,733), followed by mobile phones (577); driving without reasonable consideration (78); no seat belt (75); no NCT (56); failure to obey traffic lights (44); unaccompanied learner driver (44); failure to display L-plate (19); no insurance (15) and failure to comply with prohibitory traffic signs (6).
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
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