New report reveals shocking Donegal road death statistics

A new report published today by the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána, shows that a total of 307 road users were killed in road collisions in the county of Donegal over the period 1996-2009.
‘Donegal – Your Road to Safety’ was launched today at a special seminar held at Letterkenny IT.
The report was published to mark the launch of a new initiative which will see the RSA and An Garda Síochána visit counties around Ireland in an effort to assist local agencies strengthen road safety in the community.
Donegal is the first county to be visited as part of the new ‘Your Road to Safety’ campaign.
The new report published at the launch highlighted the fact that between 1996-2009, Donegal accounted for 6% (307) of all road deaths in Ireland despite the county making up only 3.5% of the Irish population
In addition, 1,184 were seriously injured over the period 1996-2009.
In 2010, provisional data from the Garda indicates that, 19 persons died on the roads of Donegal.
Other key findings from the report ahow excessive or inappropriate speed is the biggest killer on Donegal roads.
Two out of five  of all road deaths in Donegal were speed related;
78.4% of all road deaths in Donegal where excessive speed was cited as a contributory factor occurred on Friday, Saturday and Sunday;
27.7% of Donegal road fatalities were male aged 17-24. However, where excessive speed was a contributory factor, this figure rose to 40%;
27.4% of car drivers and passengers killed in Donegal were not using seatbelts.