dlr launches Road Safety Plan 2022-2030

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has launched its new Road Safety Plan for 2022-2030.  Our main objective is to reduce the number of collisions and casualties on roads in the County and to focus on making roads a safer place for all road users.

Read the full plan here.

Councillor Mary Hanafin, Cathaoirleach, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, said:

I welcome the launch of this Road Safety Plan and I thank everyone who gave us their views during the public consultation process. Despite many interventions over many years by many agencies in road safety, a total of 155 people lost their lives in 2022 on Irish Roads, an increase of 18 from 2021. This shows there is no room for complacency when it comes making the roads safer. Collisions on our roads can have a devastating impact on the lives of individuals, friends, families and communities but we all have to try to reduce collision numbers on our roads. I look forward to working closely with key agencies as part of our Road Safety Working Together Group in the coming years to help make our roads safer for all users.

Frank Curran, Chief Executive, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, said:

We have made a lot of progress in the development of a sustainable transport network in the County in recent years to improve the walking and cycling network. However, collision data for the County shows that 70% of fatal and serious collisions in the County involve pedestrians and cyclists and so there is still a lot of work to do to create a safer network for all road users.
While there has been progress in reducing fatal collisions at a local and national level in the last decade, there is a need for us to remain diligent and to build on the progress to date. Every death or serious injury is of immense regret, and we must strive to remain focused on improving the level of road safety in the County and in reducing collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists.

The strategy is led by a Safe System approach, which is viewed as best practice globally in the delivery of road safety strategies. The Safe System approach recognises that while road safety education and training and engineering design can reduce the number of road collisions, human error cannot be eliminated. It aims to reduce the likelihood of a collision occurring and, if one does occur, to ensure that the road users involved will not be killed or seriously injured.

Twenty-four actions are outlined in the Road Safety Plan under four Safe Systems Priority intervention areas:

• Safe Roads & Roadsides – Implementation of safety improvement schemes.
• Safe Speeds – Review of the speed limit byelaws and the introduction of 30kph zones.
• Safe Road Use – Collaboration with key agencies on road safety and transport.
• Safe and Healthy Modes of Travel – Development and promotion of active travel schemes