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Annual Rise In Northern Ireland Road Deaths Reported
Tue, 05 Jan 2010

The number of people killed on roads in Northern Ireland last year increased on the previous year for the first time during the last decade.

New figures have revealed that 115 people died in road-related accidents in 2009, an increase from the 107 people who lost their lives on Northern Ireland’s roads in 2008 - the lowest ever on record.

Of those that died in 2009, 24 were pedestrians, 46 were drivers, 29 were passengers and 16 were motorcyclists.

Men aged between 17 and 24 accounted for 38 per cent of fatalities, while the number of children who were killed fell from seven in 2008 to four in 2009.

Environment Minister Edwin Poots said: "The number of road deaths revealed today is disheartening. My sincere sympathy goes out to everyone who lost loved ones in collisions in 2009."

"The tragedy is that 115 people just like you and me were going about their normal business, presumably with hope, ambition and enthusiasm for the New Year ahead. But they didn't get the chance to fulfil their ambitions."

"While the vast majority of us are heeding the road safety messages, there is a minority who are ignoring the warnings."

Mr Poots added that he was considering introducing a night-time curfew on newly qualified drivers and restricting the number of passengers new drivers could carry in vehicles in a bid to prevent road accidents and deaths.

In contrast to the NI road casualty figures, data released by the Road Safety Authority showed that there were 240 road deaths in the Republic of Ireland last year, the country’s lowest number of annual fatalities on record and a reduction of 39 from 2008.
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