In December 2021 Ireland declared the intention to reduce fatalities on our roads by 50 per cent by 2030 and for there to be no road deaths or serious injuries on our roads by 2050. Despite this aspirational target our road deaths have since been increasing year on year. In 2025, 190 people lost their lives on our roads. At our current trajectory we will likely be more than three times over the 2030 target of just 72 deaths.

The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM), of which I am part, is backing other campaigners in demanding action to stop this carnage on our roads.

The true burden of road trauma on the health system is far greater than the fatality count might suggest. What this means is that the numbers killed don’t convey the numbers injured. For every death there are about 10 serious injuries – injuries that require hospitalisation for three days or admission to the high dependency or intensive care units. These patients might have internal bleeding, brain injuries or broken bones that require surgical repair. Many of these patients require a prolonged inpatient period of recovery. Many of them may not return to their pre-injury level of function and independence.

The data for these patients is captured by the Major Trauma Audit, a national audit collecting data on severely injured patients since 2013. To be included in this data set, the injury must meet the criteria mentioned above – hospitalisation for three days or admitted to high dependency or intensive care.

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