Coroner suggests drivers should take refresher courses to reduce road deaths

A prominent coroner has suggested that motorists should be required to take refresher courses and to take greater responsibility for their driving behaviour.

Patrick O'Connor, the Coroner for Mayo made his comments as provisional figures show that 55 people have died on Irish roads so far this year - up significantly on the same period in 2023.

Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1, this Good Friday, Mr O'Connor said that while various State authorities have a responsibility to identify areas where accidents have occurred and to learn from them, motorists should also behave responsibly and should not take risks.

“The 55 deaths on the roads in Ireland this year really does not give the significance of the number of other injuries that are caused to hundreds of people.

“If you multiply that out through the community, you're talking about thousands of people that are affected by either deaths or serious injuries,” he said.

Mr O'Connor, who is the public information officer of the Coroner's Society of Ireland, also suggested that drivers should take refresher tests when they are renewing their licence to remind them of the dangers on the road.

“Why not have a system where the person who wants to renew their licence after a ten-year period must do a course, whether it's online or otherwise, and produce that certificate? The course itself would just remind people of the dangers of driving, but also the rules of the road and what should be observed,” he commented.

Meanwhile, gardai have begun a major road safety operation for the bank holiday weekend which will see highly-visible patrols and checkpoints being put in place around the country.

We are continuing our Easter Bank Holiday Roads Enforcement Operation.

Sergeant Gavin Coleman was in attendance at a checkpoint in Dublin today to appeal to all motorists to please be safe on our roads this weekend. #SaferRoad pic.twitter.com/ruDqEgrjaP

— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) March 29, 2024

The Easter weekend is one of the busiest periods for road users and, according to the Road Safety Authorioty, it is a period where the risk of a fatal or serious injury collision is high.

Nineteen people were arrested on suspicion of drink or drug driving the first 24 hours of the Easter Bank Holiday road safety enforcement campaign, which will continue until Tuesday morning.