Motorcyclist fatalities hit five-year high in 2025

The Road Safety Authority has reported that 117 motorcyclists died on Irish roads between 2021 and 2025, with 954 seriously injured in the same period, writes Brian Byrne. That works out at an average of 23 fatalities and 191 serious injuries a year.

Motorcyclists accounted for 14% of all road deaths and 12% of serious injuries over the five years. The RSA said 2025 saw 30 motorcyclist fatalities, the highest annual figure since 2007, when 33 were recorded.

The report found that the biggest share of deaths was among riders aged 46 to 55, followed by those aged 16 to 25. Most of those killed were male, and nearly half of the fatalities happened at weekends. Dublin recorded the highest number of motorcyclist deaths, followed by Cork and Wicklow.

The RSA said the findings underline the need for all road users to share the road safely. 

Road deaths increased in 2025

Image: Artyom Kulakov, via Pexels.

A report published by the Road Safety Authority shows that a total of 185 individuals lost their lives in 174 fatal collisions during 2025, writes Brian Byrne. That compares to 171 deaths in 157 fatal collisions in 2024. 

The increase of 14 fatalities represents an 8 per cent rise year-on-year.

Of these, 76 were drivers (41%), 41 were pedestrians (22%), 30 were motorcyclists (16%), 21 were passengers (11%), 14 were pedal cyclists (8%), and 3 were e-scooter users (2%).

The report shows a rise in fatalities among drivers, as well as among vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, pedal cyclists, and motorcyclists. 

February (11 fatalities) and June (11 fatalities) recorded the fewest deaths in 2025, whereas November and December recorded the highest fatalities, with 21 and 24, respectively. 

Government plans to cut car use in cities and towns

Image: Ferliana Febritasari via Pexels.

The Government is planning to cut car use in cities and towns by 20pc over the next seven years by what it calls ‘demand management’ strategies, writes Brian Byrne.

In a Memorandum of Information to Government today, Transport minister Eamon Ryan says the strategy will also feature ‘unprecedented’ levels of investment in public transport and active travel facilities. The strategy will take a year to complete. It was outlined as a key action in the Climate Action Plan 2023.

The demand management measures will include road space reallocation, car-free zones, and user charging. Minister Ryan says the transport system today is overly-reliant on the car, bringing ‘daily traffic chaos and lower quality of life’.

The strategy being developed will provide a ‘road-map’ of guiding principles for measures that could be used at local level.

There will be widespread public consultation, the Memorandum brought to Government today says. 

Speed fines double from tomorrow

A doubling of some road safety offences fines will be in place from tomorrow, writes Brian Byrne, including speeding offences.

Speeding fines go from €80 to €160, mobile phone use from €60 to €120, non-wearing of seatbelts from €60 to €120, and failing to ensure that a child is properly restrained from €60 to €120.

The fine for a learner permit holder driving a vehicle unaccompanied by a qualified person will also increase, from €80 to €160. The fine for novice and learner drivers not displaying ‘L’ or ‘N’ plates, or tabards in the case of motorcyclists, will double to €120.

The new fines were announced by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Ms Hildegarde Naughton, at the Road Safety Authority’s Annual Conference in Croke Park today.

Minister Naughton also announced that three new Fixed Charge Notices will come into force in the new year, relating to the misuse of a disabled parking permit, illegally parking in an electric charging bay, and breaching a HGV ban and entering a specified public road without a valid permit. 

Changing your car? Update your easytrip details

Mobility solutions specialist, easytrip is reminding motorists who are planning a purchase or sale of a vehicle during the 221-registration period to update their easytrip account details to avoid receiving any unanticipated toll charges, writes Brian Byrne.

In addition to enabling toll payments, the easytrip tag can be used to pay for parking and car washes, providing a safe and easy payment solution for motorists that reduces card touch points or cash handling.

If a driver buys a new vehicle and transferred the existing tag to it but forgets to update their easytrip account details, there's a potential risk if the driver has travelled through the M50 toll plaza as the new vehicle registration is not connected to their tag account meaning the driver may receive a toll bill (billed at the higher rate) and a penalty charge for the journey. If someone has sold their vehicle and inadvertently left the tag in the car and has not updated their toll tag account, the new owner may continue to use the tag at toll plazas, resulting in a toll journey or multiple journeys being charged to the original owner’s tag account.

Easytrip customers can update their account details by logging onto www.easytrip.ie or calling 1890 67 67 68.

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Driving into Madrid centre could cost

Madrid is to expand a pilot scheme by which car owners who don't live in the city centre will be automatically fined €90 if they drive in without having a guaranteed pre-booked car parking space, writes Brian Byrne.

The scheme will involve 1.36 square miles of the city centre area, double the space of the pilot scheme which was limited to two barrios (neighbourhoods). And the city also plans to pedestrianise a further 25 percent of the centre than currently is the case.

A number of through-routes are exempt from the scheme, but if a driver turns off them in the scheme's area, his car's number is automatically recorded, and he'll get the fine automatically if the system shows there's no pre-booked public parking space listed for the vehicle.

There's no restriction on local residents, while delivery vehicles can travel through the areas on weekday mornings and motorcycles have a curfew after 10pm until 7am.

The first elements of the scheme, in one barrio, were introduced ten years ago. With the latest extensions, it will cost the city €500,000 a year to police.

Madrid has the second-largest underground metro system in the world, and has expanded its efficient city bus services by a third in the last eight years, so there's plenty of alternatives to driving in to the centre to work.

Pic: Gran Vía (Madrid) 44" by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra - Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Dash cameras gaining in popularity

'Cash for crash' fraudsters are using a new technique in the UK to lure motorists into staged crashes, writes Brian Byrne.

They flash their headlights to signal to motorists waiting to enter traffic on a main road that they'll be let join the flow, then the fraudsters speed up and hit them side-on as they attempt to do so.

Without evidence to the contrary, the driver from the minor road is deemed in the wrong and his or her insurance pays up.

With 30,000 'cash for crash' incidents recorded in the UK each year, it's a £350m 'industry' that pushes up insurance premiums for everyone.

According to motor accessories firm Halfords, the situation is prompting more and more motorists to install 'dash cameras' which record journeys visually and can be used to defend against allegations of dangerous driving, both from fraudsters and police traffic patrols.

Such cameras have been very popular across eastern Europe for many years for the same reasons. They were also the reason that such stunning footage of the meteor burnup over Russia last year was available.

Parking meters print coupons

A village in New York has become a test bed for an idea that might just take the sting out of parking charges in towns around the world, including Ireland, writes Brian Byrne.

New parking meters in Rockville Centre now print discount coupons for local shops and other businesses when motorists pay for parking time, encouraging them to shop local.

The idea is a joint venture between Mastercard and the parking company Parkeon, and depending on reaction it may be rolled out throughout the US.

There has long been angst between traders and local authorities in Ireland who have imposed pay parking in towns around the country, the former often claiming that they lose business to out-of-town shopping centres as a result.

Upgrade plans for Naas M7

Kildare County Council has displayed plans to upgrade the Naas/Newbridge bypass to three lanes in each direction, writes Brian Byrne.

The €50m project will involve construction of two new interchanges and the replacement of an access bridge. One of the interchanges, at Osberstown, will facilitate a new bypass of Sallins. The other, south of and replacing the current Junction 10 at Newhall, will provide more efficient access both to Naas and Newbridge and eliminate chronic congestion on the off-ramp at the present Junction.

The third lane on each side will be made mostly by eliminating the grass centre margin, minimising the necessity for compulsory purchase of land.

The project is expected to be ready for funding and planning applications next year. If all goes well, it could be completed in 3-4 years from now.

Europe is top for traffic congestion

Brussels worst for trafficSeven of the top 10 congested cities worldwide are in Europe, according to a new report, writes Brian Byrne.

Brussels and Antwerp are the top two for congestion in the annual Traffic Scorecard compiled by Washington-based traffic and navigation services provider INRIX.

The other European bumper to bumper hotspots are Milan, London, Paris, Rotterdam and Manchester, in order.

Los Angeles in California ranks in third place, followed by Honolulu in Hawaii and San Francisco in California, in 7th and 10th places respectively. 

The survey says traffic congestion overall in Europe declined by 18 percent last year compared to 2011, largely attirbutable to reduced economic activity. But Luxembourg bucked the trend, with congestion increasing by 29 percent. 

With more people getting back to work in America in the last year or so, measured congestion is rising in that nation's 61 largest cities. 

Honda helps prevent traffic jams

Honda has developed a system to cut traffic jams using driving instructions given by a smartphone, writes Brian Byrne.

In a test on a public road in Jakarta, Indonesia, the system helped to delay the occurrence of a traffic jam by up to six munites, and improved fuel consumption in the cars involved by at least 20 percent.

In the test, the cars were equipped with an application running on a smartphone which directed the drivers how to drive most efficiently for the conditions. The application monitored patterns of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicles, working out if they were running in a way that would cause a traffic jam.

The overall effect was that the test vehicles were running in sync with each other. The interface used was screen colour based, with a green screen showing no traffic jam potential and a blue screen showing otherwise.

Without the system, when the traffic volume exceeded 200 vehicles per three minutes, the average speed of vehicles rapidly decreased, causing a traffic jam. However, with the system, even when the traffic volume exceeded 200 vehicles per three minutes, the average speed of vehicles increased after a while.

M9/M7 interchange works

Works to improve the M9/M7 interchange (the tunnel) will begin on Monday, with the purpose of widening the merge facility for northbound traffic off the Kilcullen bypass.

The work is being done by Clonmel Enterprises under contract to Kildare County Council and will take about 12 weeks.

The existing merge will be maintained to allow for less interference during the construction of the project and to limit construction to the left hand side of the M9 merge and the M7 mainline.

Big Brother Google is watching you walk, cycle, drive

Ireland is one of the countries around the world where Google is monitoring real-time traffic speeds via users of its Android system smartphones, writes Brian Byrne.

The surveillance is mostly in Dublin, but also on stretches of the motorway system outside the capital. A much more extensive operation is being done in the UK and other European countries as well as many locations in the US and South America.

If you look at this Google map you'll see the extent of this activity.

It's all based on the fact that when you use a Google map system on your Android smartphone to see where you are, you're telling Google where you are too.

And with some 400 million users of Android phones, there's enough real-time data streaming back into Google's servers to provide fairly accurate traffic conditions in those areas being monitored.

Ever get the feeling that you're being followed?

Traffic jam app in test

A couple of university students have developed a smartphone app that shows drivers how to get the most economical way through traffic-snarled city streets, writes Brian Byrne.

The app is currently being field-tested in and around Munich, Germany, by dozens of drivers.

Called Greenway, the system uses software to predict where users are heading, using GPS technology. If one street is backing up, another is suggested in advance of a traffic jam actually stopping movement.

The app is the brainchild of one Christian Bruggermann, who got the idea while watching cars packed into one street while another one nearby was empty.

He estimates that if just 10 percent of drivers in a city area were using the app, it would work efficiently. Tests so far have shown saved time, and fuel economies of up to 20 percent.

Traffic from (or in) Hell

A traffic jam is a traffic jam. Or is it more? This report in The Atlantic magazine about one in Lagos is sobering, if not terrifying reading.

Is this what the real apocalypse will be?

Kids driven to school 'don't know neighborhoods'

Children who are regularly or mostly driven to school don't have the same relationship with their neighborhoods as those who walk or cycle, writes Brian Byrne.

This is one conclusion from a study in the US which also found that children in neighbourhoods with heavy traffic have a much more negative attitude to the area where they live than do those in areas with light traffic exposure.

Researcher Bruce Appleyard asked 9/10 year-olds to draw maps of their neighborhoods in the different suburban areas. He found that those with what he calls 'a windshield perspective' couldn't accurately draw how streets in their community connected, while the walking or cycling youngsters produced very accurate drawings.

Those in the heavy traffic areas also produced much more 'negative' drawings, highlighted by 'danger' colours and details, whereas the kids who knew their locality showed elements like trees and parks.

Other research includes a poll that showed only 18 percent of US children walk or cycle to school now, compared to 71 percent of their parents.

Traffic 'isolates neighbours'

Recent research into whether the rise of social media is in fact making people more isolated has reawakened interest in investigations a generation ago on the isolating effect of urban traffic, writes Brian Byrne.

Carried out in the early 80s by Donald Appleyard in San Francisco, the survey found that different levels of automotive traffic diminishes human connections. Using norms of light, medium and heavy traffic flows, he found that residents on the 'light' traffic streets had more friends and acquaintances than those on the 'heavy' urban arteries. He published his results in a book called 'Liveable Streets'.

Appleyard's research was replicated in 2008 in Bristol by academic Joshua Hart, who found similar results. On 'medium' streets, respondents said neighbours 'don't see each other like they used to', and one mother wouldn't let her children make friends across the street because of the danger in crossing the road.

Vienna car2go powering on

The latest city to roll out the Daimler car2o short term car rental scheme is Vienna, where more than 7,000 city dwellers have registered for the service, writes Brian Byrne.

With 500 Smart ForTwo vehicles available in the city since early December, the scheme has already registered more than 60,000 rentals. The current rate of new journeys is 10,000 a week.

The scheme is similar to the bike rental facilities available in many cities, including Dublin, and in Vienna's car2go four out of five journeys last less than 45 minutes. The average distance is between 5-10 kilometres.

The system involves a once-off registration fee of €9.90, and after that customers can spontaneously rent available cars on the street, or find and book them using smartphone apps or their computers. Accessing the cars is via the membership card.

The cars can be left for free in any public parking space or short term parking places inside the city operating area. The scheme pays a blanket parking fee to the city to cover this.

More than two thirds of users are between the ages of 26-50, and a fifth are under 25.

Charges are by the minutes driven (€0.29) and parked (€0.09) with discounted prices for hourly and daily use.

The car2go scheme was inaugurated by Daimler in 2008 and is already operating successfully in nine cities in Europe, the USA and in Canada. Nearly 3,000 vehicles are currently in operation for more than 70,000 customers.

Leprechauns to patrol Las Vegas traffic

Traffic police in Las Vegas will be donning leprechaun costumes on St Patrick's Day to help keep pedestrians and motorists apart.

It's the latest in a trend of officers getting into seasonal costumes to try and cut down accidents.

In November they dressed as turkeys. At Christmas a number had Santa outfits.

High tech parking cuts costs, rage, accidents

A number of American cities are building 'smart' parking systems as a way of applying new technologies to end 'parking rage', and massive wasting of fuel and time by people trying to find parking space.

The most advanced of these has been set up in San Francisco, writes Brian Byrne, which has installed magnetic sensors under 8,200 street parking spaces.

Drivers can use their smartphones to find in real time vacant spaces, which saves time and frustration, the latter of which can lead to motorists becoming less safe and hitting pedestrians and cyclists or other road users in their search for space.

A €19.8 million grant from the US Department of Transportation was used to help set up the system, which will be extended to provide information on off-street parking.

Los Angeles is working to set up a similar system. Researchers in the city found that cars circling for just three minutes to find parking in a 15-block neighborhood totted up over 350,000 miles of excess driving every year.