| Synopsis: |
Northern Ireland has traditionally had a poor road safety record, with a level of deaths and injuries caused by road accidents which is significantly higher than the rest of the UK. In light of these concerns, a 10 year road safety strategy was launched in Northern Ireland in 2002 by the Department of the Environment, the Department for Regional Development and the Police Service of Northern Ireland with two key targets: to reduce the overall numbers killed and seriously injured on the roads by one third, with a 50 per cent reduction in child deaths and serious injuries.This NIAO report finds that the region's road safety record has improved markedly since the launch of the Strategy and it is on course to meet the strategy's targets. However, there are still aspects where improvement is required, particularly in relation to the rate of deaths and serious injuries among young and inexperienced drivers and motorcyclists, and the numbers of accidents caused by drink and drug-related driving and excessive speeding. |