“As we begin 2022 with hope, I ask all road users to follow these four basic rules: slow down, pay attention, never drive having taken alcohol or drugs and always wear your seatbelt, however short your journey.”
That’s the message from Northern Ireland’s infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon, on the back of provisional figures showing 50 people died on the country’s roads during 2021*.
The fatalities comprised 20 drivers, 14 motorcyclists, eight pedestrians, seven passengers and one other road user. There were no pedal cyclists killed.
The 2021 figure compares to 56 in both 2020 and in 2019 – and is the second lowest recorded in Northern Ireland since records began in 1931.
Despite this, Nichola Mallon says the figures are ‘disheartening’, given Covid-19 restrictions meant there was ‘much less traffic’ on the roads.
The minister is calling on all road users to ‘share our roads responsibly’.
She said: “The evidence continues to show us that most road deaths are avoidable, as more than nine in ten deaths and serious injuries are due to human error.
“However we choose to travel, each one of us has a responsibility to ourselves and others to do so safely. If we all take that extra second on our journey to consider our actions as we walk, wheel, cycle, ride or drive, we could see a further reduction in the number of people being killed or seriously injured.
“As we begin 2022 with hope, I ask all road users to follow these four basic rules: slow down, pay attention, never drive having taken alcohol or drugs and always wear your seatbelt, however short your journey.
“I am actively committed to improving safety on our roads and continue to collaborate with our road safety partners to deliver a programme of road safety education, engineering and enforcement initiatives.”
*The figures cover the period from 1 January to 11.59pm on 30 December 2021.
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