merrion street

Transport Minister Pachal Donohue, Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid and CEO of the Road Safety Authority Moyagh Murdock at the launch of a Tyre Safety Awareness Campaign today

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe today joined the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána to launch a major tyre safety awareness campaign.  A new report from the Road Safety Authority has revealed that vehicle factors played a role in 1 in 8 (101) fatal collisions in the period 2008 to 2012. Defective tyres were the most significant factor, representing almost two thirds (64.1% or 66) of all vehicle factors identified. This was revealed at the launch of a landmark new report ‘Pre-Crash Report on Vehicle Factors in Fatal Collisions’, the first of its kind in Ireland, which analysed An Garda Síochána Forensic Collision Investigation reports in order to identify the main contributory factors in collisions on Irish roads. 

Defective tyres were the most significant factor, representing almost two thirds (64.1% or 66) of all vehicle factors identified as contributory to the collision. The report also found that defective brakes were also a contributory factor in road collisions between 2008 and 2012, contributing to 18 deaths and 6 serious injuries in collisions where a vehicle had defective brakes.  

The main findings of the report are: 

• Of 858 fatal collisions in Ireland between 2008 and 2012, motorised vehicle factors contributed to 101 collisions (12%)
• Vehicle factors were a contributory factor in 12% of all collisions. Of these tyres were the main contributory factor accounting for 8%.
• Of collisions where vehicle factors were noted the condition of tyres accounted for almost two thirds (64.1% or 66) of collisions
• Defective tyres were more prevalent in single vehicle crashes (74.1%) when compared to multiple vehicle crashes (57.6%)
• 111 people lost their lives and 30 were seriously injured in collisions where vehicle defects were a contributory factor.
• 71 people were killed and 19 were seriously injured in a collision where a vehicle had defective tyres as a contributory factor.
• 18 people were killed and 6 were seriously injured in a collision where a vehicle had defective brakes
• 17-24 year old drivers accounted for almost half (47%) of fatal collisions involving defective, worn, over or underinflated tyres
• The highest proportion of drivers with defective tyres were in Donegal (18.2%), followed by Cork, Kerry and Wexford (9.1% each)
• Losing control on a bend on a regional road and on a road surface that was dry at the time were typical scenarios noted in the investigation reports.

Minister Donohoe said:

None of us can predict what will happen when we use the roads – we may encounter other drivers behaving poorly, or weather conditions could be particularly bad. But we can take personal responsibility for ensuring our vehicle is properly maintained so that we can rely on our tyres responding to the conditions as they should or our brakes working when they need to. To highlight how critical this is to our safety on the roads, work is currently on-going to bring the offence of defective and non-roadworthy tyres within the penalty point system. So I would urge people to take preventative measures by checking their vehicles regularly and ensure they are roadworthy.

To highlight the dangers of driving with defective tyres, the RSA has launched a new TV, radio, cinema and online advertising campaign entitled ‘Grip’. The purpose of the ad is to make people aware that tyres are the one point of contact their car has with the road and can be viewed on the RSA YouTube page here