Dozen deaths in black year on Galway roads

It was a black year on the roads in Galway – a dozen roads deaths were recorded in the city and county in 2021.

Although provisional road collision statistics reveal the number of road deaths in Ireland has dropped to a record low, making 2021 the safest year on Irish roads since 1959, a total of twelve fatalities were recorded on Galway’s roads in the past year, up by 140%.

The previous year, 2020, there were five deaths on Galway’s roads – the death toll more than doubled in 2021.

According to the figures published by Road Safety Authority (RSA), following analysis of provisional fatal collision reports by An Garda Síochána, Galway was the least safe county for fatal road collisions last year after Dublin.

Nationally, according to RSA, a total of 133 people died in 120 fatal road collisions in 2021 compared to 146 deaths in 135 fatal road collisions in 2020.

This represents 13 fewer deaths or a 9% drop in road fatalities.

One third of Galway’s road deaths in 2021 were attributed to a horror crash in August which claimed the lives of four people, including a child.

The multiple vehicle collision occurred along the M6 Motorway at Poolboy near Ballinasloe on August 19.

Kurdish family Karzan Sabah Ahmed, Shahen Qasm and their eight-month-old daughter Lena all died when another motorist, Jonasz Lach, entered the motorway on the wrong side and crashed head-on into their vehicle. Mr Lach also died.

Karzan Sabah was conferred with a posthumous PhD from NUI Galway in October. Originally from the Kurdistan region of north Iraq they had been living in Galway city while he was completing a PhD in Environmental Science at NUIG.

Nationally, of the 130 road deaths, 18 were pedestrians, the lowest number of pedestrian deaths over the last 25 years.

Read 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