Dozen deaths in black year on Galway roads

The horror crash that claimed the life of an NUIG PhD student, his wife and child – along with the driver of the other car – made up one-third of the total fatalities on Galway’s roads over the last twelve months.

A dozen deaths were recorded across the city and county in 2021, in marked contrast to the trend across the country as a whole. Because while provisional figures reveal the number of road deaths in Ireland at a record low – making 2021 the safest year on Irish roads since 1959 – that total of twelve fatalities on Galway’s roads resulted in an increase of 140% on the five deaths in 2020.

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 that 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.

There were increases in fatalities among drivers (70, up nine) and motorcyclists in 2021 (21, up four). Seven cyclists lost their lives on the roads in 2021, three fewer than 2020. Some 24% of fatalities occurred on an urban road and 76% occurred on a rural road.

Of the 86 drivers and passengers killed, 37 (44%) were wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision; 24 (29%) were not wearing a seatbelt; and for the remaining 23 fatalities, it is not yet known (27%).

Over half of fatalities were aged between 16 and 45 years (55%). Some 45% of fatalities occurred between 12pm and 8pm.

Provisional figures indicate that 1,091 serious injuries were recorded up to the 21 December 2021 compared to 1,105 in 2020.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, the Galway West TD, said: “It is very welcome news that there has been a reduction in the number of road deaths and serious injuries this year. I want to thank road users for making it a safer year, especially after 2020 was such a bad year for road safety. However, I am conscious that this news will come as cold comfort to those who have been injured and the families left grieving the loss of a loved one. It reminds us that one death or serious injury is one too many.

“This is reflected in the ambition of the recently launched Government Road Safety Strategy 2021 to 2030, ‘Our Journey Towards Vision Zero’. It aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% over the next decade and achieve no deaths or serious injuries on the road by 2050.”