I am sharing time with the Ministers of State, Deputies Canney and Buttimer. I welcome the opportunity to address the House this afternoon to update it on road safety measures. As we all know, travel is an essential component of economic and social life. It needs to be available, accessible, sustainable and, above all, safe. This Government is committed to reducing road deaths and creating safer roads for everyone in Ireland. In 1997, which is almost three decades ago, we saw 472 fatalities on Irish roads. I think we would all agree that would be an unimaginable figure today. That was at a time when we had a smaller population and far fewer vehicles on our roads than today. In the following year, 1998, implementation of the first national road safety strategy began, to tackle this serious issue in a co-ordinated and systematic manner and to bring about road safety improvements in our country. Over the course of that strategy, and its successors, we have witnessed an improvement, which some would say is remarkable, in safety on our roads.
In 2005, there were 396 fatalities on Irish roads. By 2012, this had reduced to 162, with a further reduction to 133 by 2021, which was the lowest level since records began in 1959. However, we must not be complacent or take any of that progress for granted. Three of the last four years have seen an annual increase in road-related fatalities and serious injuries. As of this morning, there have been 18 fatalities on our roads so far this year. Last year, there were 175. That is 175 families and communities experiencing tragedy and loss. Not only that, but for every fatality, there are eight serious and possibly life-changing injuries. I know all of us would say that one fatality on our roads is one too many. It is a tragedy for the family and community. That drives us to do whatever we can to improve road safety.
The four main causes of fatalities are speeding, distraction, not wearing a seatbelt and intoxicated driving, all of which come down to driver behaviour and personal responsibility on the part of the road user. Irish data from a range of sources, including self-reported surveys, observational studies, analysis and collision figures show concerning levels of these dangerous driving behaviours and, in some cases, I am sad to say, a deterioration in attitudes surrounding them. High levels of mobile phone usage by drivers in Ireland have been reported. Research from 2022 indicates that approximately one in four motorists is not only checking their phone but also writing text messages while driving. This distraction can be deadly. World Health Organization research has found that a driver using a mobile phone is approximately four times more likely to be involved in a collision. Let me be clear that no level of distraction, multitasking or mobile phone use while driving can ever be considered safe, nor should this behaviour be accepted in society. We need to tackle and transform societal norms, making it clear that using a mobile phone while driving is as unacceptable as drink-driving. This shift is paramount to saving lives and preventing the heartache caused by so many road traffic collisions.
In a nationally representative survey conducted last year, 11% of motorists said they had driven after consuming an alcoholic drink and 1% of motorists said they had driven after consuming illicit drugs in the past 12 months. Data indicate that Irish drivers arrested for drug-driving are typically male and under the age of 45. Cannabis, cocaine and benzodiazepines are the most detected drugs. The Road Traffic Act 2024, which was signed into law last April, and the subsequent introduction of mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions in May, were real systemic interventions on drug-driving. Allied with the new legislation, the Medical Bureau of Road Safety is working closely with An Garda Síochána, with 45,000 DrugWipe kits available this year. Drivers should be aware that gardaí throughout the country can now rapidly test for the presence of drugs and that drugs stay in people's system for many times longer than alcohol does. Simply put, drug driving is not worth the risk to you or to others.
Speeding remains one of the greatest risk factors on our roads. One in four drivers thinks that speeding 10 km/h or more over the limit is acceptable, yet studies show that even small reductions in speed can have outsized benefits. WHO research shows that a 5% reduction in average speed results in a 20% reduction in fatalities. Most people know that speeding is dangerous, yet all too many continue to do it. Speed reduces the time people have to react and makes collisions much more likely. It also makes it more likely that when collisions happen, they will lead to death or very serious injuries. The Road Traffic Act 2024 also legislated for safer default speed limits on various parts of Ireland's road network. While the final decision on the speed limit on a given road is an important devolved responsibility for each local authority with due regard to the national guidelines, last Friday, 7 February, new default limits of 60 km/h came into effect on rural and local roads. I am pleased that the reaction to this change has been broadly positive. The roll-out of future changes to default limits will be informed by analysis of this phase.
Across government, we are working on multiple fronts to address these problems. The Government's current road safety strategy, which runs to the end of this decade, follows international best practice and aligns with EU targets and the Vision Zero ambition for 2050. Vision Zero is the aspiration to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2050 while increasing safe, healthy and equitable mobility for all. As an interim target, countries across the EU are aiming to halve road deaths and serious injuries this decade. Together with road safety partners, my Department is leading on the development of the phase two action plan under this strategy, which will run from this year to 2027. This plan, which will be adopted in the coming months, will set out high-impact actions which will contribute to Ireland achieving its goal of reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2030 and putting Ireland on track to achieve Vision Zero.
To support this work, the Department of Transport and the Road Safety Authority established a new road user safety forum comprising road safety advocates and road users, representing a range of interests and perspectives, to serve as a consultative body for the emerging action plan.
In terms of legislation, I am committed to commencing the remaining provisions of the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023, which was signed into law by the President in June 2023. This is a large body of legislation, which took several years to complete. To date, there have been several commencement orders covering BusConnects, dangerous driving, the antisocial use of scramblers, road infrastructure, provisions relating to the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland and provisions for e-scooters and e-bikes. From this year, insurers will be permitted to access endorsements on driving licences, meaning that if someone is renewing their licence, insurers will be able to see if that person has penalty points.
I will also support the important work to bring the provisions contained in the Road Traffic Act 2024 into effect. This Act is concise and focused; it seeks to respond to the trends we have witnessed on our roads over the past number of years in a more robust and systematic way. The Act addresses a number of key areas of road safety concern. In response to the concerning rise in drug-driving, the Act introduced mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions on the same basis as would happen with alcohol. The evidence indicates that drink- and drug-driving are now similarly prevalent, and while neither is acceptable it makes no sense to treat drugs in any way differently. To increase the deterrent effect of penalty points the Act introduces a major reform of the system first introduced in 2002. A driver previously caught committing multiple penalty point offences in a single stop would receive only one set of penalty points. Going forward, they will receive at least two sets of points, and potentially more, in the event of an unsuccessful court challenge where three or more offences are detected in the one stop. This important reform will encourage safer driver behaviours and vehicle maintenance standards across the range of penalty point offences, and ensure there is no benefit to drivers from, so to speak, stacking up offences.
A key commitment under the new programme for Government is continued support for the consolidation of the Road Traffic Acts. I am pleased to say that from the start of this month, we have had a dedicated team fully in place within our Department working on this important project. That team will bring this long-standing commitment to fruition. The programme for Government also calls for the introduction of graduated driving penalties and speed awareness courses as an alternative sanction for those who are caught speeding. I intend to bring forward legislation to enable these measures this year, as will legislation that will remove data protection barriers to local authorities directly receiving collision data, to strengthen the legal underpinnings for access to the data on the national vehicle and drivers file and to provide for abolition of the requirement for paper road tax, insurance and road worthiness discs.
Before handing over to the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, I acknowledge the work of all stakeholders across the road safety sector. This is a complex cross-cutting area, and we can only make progress with co-operation and commitment from all those involved, inside and outside Government. This debate and these statements are timely, and we will listen intently to contributions from all parties, be they in government or opposition, and to suggestions of how we can work together in continuing to reduce road fatalities. As I said earlier, any fatality on our roads is one too many. Our condolences obviously go to all those families who have lost people over the course of this year and the past number of years in tragic road fatalities.