GET THE MESSAGE…Some of the students from different schools around the county who had attended the regular Roadsafe Roadshow, pictured with local councillors Harold Agnew and Alex Baird, Fermanagh District Council’s Community safety officer Leona Mc Gee, and Constable Gerry Doherty.
LATEST figures reveal that a total of 23 have died in road accidents in Fermanagh in the past five years.
In 2012, three died on our roads, while in 2009 – the five year high of nine road deaths was recorded.
For the North as a whole, there were 5,775 collisions recorded by the PSNI between January to December 2012 resulting in a total of 9,010 casualties of which there were 48 fatalities, 795 people seriously injured and a further 8,167 people slightly injured.
This is the lowest annual number of fatalities on the roads in Northern Ireland since records began in 1931.
Constable Trevor Kirke, roads education officer for the PSNI, who covers the ‘F’ district including Fermanagh, said it was the ‘same general issues’ causing deaths and injuries on roads.
“Driving without due care and attention is the biggest problem of all, and the mobile phone would be the main culprit. Distracted drivers, that’s generally the overbearing cause of a lot of these collisions.
“You still, unfortunately, have a number of people who don’t wear seatbelts, despite the fact that the legislation has been there for a long time.
“People driving under the influence of drink or drugs continues to be a problem,” he added.
Constable Kirke also referred to the investment in roads in Fermanagh as a positive.
“The improving road network helps, there’s no doubt that they help road safety. Anything on that end is always a positive.”
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