Cork road fatalities in 2023 are highest since 2020

FIFTEEN people died on the roads of Cork in 2023 — the second-highest figure reported by any county in Ireland last year.

A total of 184 people died in 173 fatal collisions across Ireland last year, a 19% increase on 2022, when 155 deaths were reported.

The figures were published by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) following an analysis of provisional fatal collision reports from An Garda Síochána.

Sixteen road fatalities were reported in Tipperary — the highest number of road deaths reported in any county during 2023 — while Dublin recorded 15 road deaths, Galway recorded 13, and Mayo reported 12.

While the number of road deaths for Cork in 2023 increased by two on the figure of 13 for 2022, it was down from the 2020 figure when 22 people lost their lives on the county’s roads.

In 2019, 14 people died on Cork roads, while there were eight fatalities in 2021.

Of the 184 road deaths in 2023, some 69 were drivers, 44 were pedestrians, 34 were passengers, 26 were motorcyclists, eight were cyclists, and three were e-scooter users.

RSA chairwoman Liz O’Donnell said: “It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the tragic loss of life on Ireland’s roads in 2023.

“We have had a difficult year in road safety. People are carrying huge grief with them; a grief that doesn’t go away and a void that cannot be filled in their lives. Any one life lost is one too many.

“We must do more, and I welcome the proposed introduction of a national strategy on camera-based enforcement which, I understand, will be prioritised in 2024. A national strategy will ensure a consistent approach to the selection and use of the different forms of camera technologies as well as supporting the development of a roadmap for the rollout of camera-based enforcement and ensuring that enablers such as funding and other critical resources are identified.”