Irish motorists are better informed about the numbers of deaths on the roads than any other public in Europe. This is according to a survey carried out by the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), the road data analysis group of which AA Ireland is a founder member.

Across nine European countries only 13% of those asked were able to provide a reasonable estimate, within 10%, of the number of people killed annually on their country’s roads.

But the Irish results were dramatically different. The public in Ireland had by far the greatest knowledge of the number of road deaths in their country. Some 43% of the population was able to estimate the number within 10% either side of the actual number.

"This reflects well on road safety communication in Ireland," Says public affairs manager Conor Faughnan. "But it also tells us that the public are aware, even if the government is not, that we have a road safety crisis on our hands. We are miles behind the best performing countries like the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands in the critical areas of speeding, drink-driving and seatbelts. It is no coincidence that we are miles behind in levels of traffic policing as well."

Second only to Ireland in terms of road safety awareness is France where 28% of the population were able to accurately estimate the number of road deaths in their nation. A Presidential commitment to reducing road casualties as a priority, and the resulting communication, appears to have had a significant effect.

In the UK and Belgium knowledge was practically non-existent: only 1% of the population able to give a reasonable estimate the number of road deaths. In both UK and Spain, over 60% of the population significantly under-estimated the number of people killed on their roads. In Sweden, the country where road users are least likely to die on the roads, only some 17% could provide a reasonable estimate.

Only a small proportion of those asked in Spain, Austria, Germany and Netherlands had knowledge of the number.

"Ireland is top of the table for public awareness but sadly closer to the bottom in terms of positive action." Says Faughnan. "Its clear that the government is not keeping up with the people on this critical issue."

Note to editors: The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is a co-operative group made up of roads authorities and automobile clubs across Europe. It has carried out assessments of the performance of road design across Europe, including Ireland, and its findings are influencing road design in Ireland and elsewhere. More information can be found at www.eurorap.org.

View Graph of Survey Results.

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