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THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has said 2013 was the second year in a row that saw an impressive decrease in the number of people killed on Europe’s roads. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Ireland, where there was a 19 per cent increase year-on-year, following years of decline.
Overall in Europe, there has been a 17 per cent decrease in road deaths since 2010. The Commission said some 9,000 lives have been saved.
However it pointed out that statistics show the numbers still vary greatly across the EU. On average, there were 52 road deaths per million inhabitants in the EU. The countries with the lowest number of road fatalities remain the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark, reporting around 30 deaths per million inhabitants. In Ireland, road deaths were falling consistently until last year when there was an increase of 19 per cent.
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Notably Spain, Germany and Slovakia have improved their positions on the list, moving in among the traditional top performers.
The Commission said another worrying feature of the statistics is the situation of vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. The number of pedestrians killed is decreasing to a lesser extent than expected and the number of cyclist deaths has recently been increasing.
“This is partly due to the fact that more and more people cycle; the challenge for Member States is to encourage people to use their bicycles rather than their cars more often, but to make sure that the shift from car to bicycle is a safe one,” the Commission said in a statement this morning.
EU Commissioner for mobility and transport and Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas said the EU is “fully back on track” to reach its road safety target of halving road deaths between 2010 and 2020.
“However, there are still 70 people who die on Europe’s roads every day, so we cannot be complacent,” he said. “We must continue our joint efforts at all levels to further improve the safety on European roads.”
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The Russians use the argument, that the crimean population is largely ethnically russian and crimea was always russian. Much like the excuse the British use for occupying the North. If only Coveney was so blunt about the occupation of part of our country by a foreign country.
@Welk wrangler: ““I am glad also to be part of the international community which has convened to co-ordinate efforts to resolve the long-standing issue of the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” he said.”
A good bit late there Simon, Crimea was annexed 7 years ago, there is no resolving it now, it belongs to Russia, if you mean you are part of international community who is going to have a talking shop with junkets and expenses then yes, off you toddle.
@Welk wrangler: There is not foreign occupation of any part of our country. Northern Ireland not part of the Republic it is its own country. Only thing in common is the 2 countries share an island.
@Roy Dowling: Spoken like a true Fine Gaeler
@Roy Dowling: you’re totally wrong there. Ireland is Ireland and the six counties are occupied. It’s not British, it’s Irish soil, occupied by an Empire that is crumbling
@Michael Kehoe: Roy does not like to hear that . As West Brit as they come, our Roy
@Welk wrangler: I’m not sure that is factual. I maybe wrong but as far as I’m aware Crimea was part of Russia and was only given to Ukraine by President Nikita Khrushchev after the death of Stalin. Chances are most citizens are ethnic Russia.
@Michael Kehoe: does the good friday agreement state a recognition of two states
Excellent news!
Very misleading headline.
Surely it’s not Coveney that’s opening it.. its the Dept of Foreign Affairs that’s doing it and paying for it.
@Seoirse Ó Staighe: Incorrect- it is a political decision to open any embassy. The staff in the DoFA are civil servants and answer to the current minister.
Any chance he could forget about the PR stunts and answer a few questions here? FG have kept him out of the limelight for long enough.
@alan: Err- he is the minister for Foreign Affairs. The word ‘foreign’ is the clue there.
Why on earth are we opening an embassy in Ukraine?
Do we have significant trade, cultural or other links with this country? Greater than with many other countries?
If not then it’s just a snub to the Russians and to lick the boots of the US.
have your say