Are Irish Roads Getting Deadlier? 2023 to 2025 Figures

Quick answer: Yes, on the latest figures. 185 people died on public roads in Ireland in 2025, up 8% from 171 in 2024, according to Road Safety Authority (RSA) figures published in January 2026. That rise wiped out the small improvement of 2024, when deaths had fallen 4%. Ireland remains far from its target of 72 or fewer deaths by 2030.

2025: deaths rose again

The RSA figures for 2025, reported by the Press Association in January 2026, show:

• 185 people died in 174 fatal collisions on public roads in 2025, an increase of 14 deaths, or 8%, on 2024.
• An Garda Síochána recorded a wider total of 190 deaths in 179 fatal collisions, which also includes public places, car parks and other non-public roads.
• Of the 185 deaths on public roads, 76 were drivers, 41 were pedestrians, 30 were motorcyclists, 21 were passengers, 14 were pedal cyclists and 3 were e-scooter users.
• About three-quarters of those killed were male and about one-quarter were female.
• Cyclist deaths were the highest since 2017, and motorcyclist deaths were the highest since 2007.
• November (21 deaths) and December (24 deaths) were the worst months, while February and June were the lowest, with 11 deaths each. The average was 15 deaths a month, against 14 a month in 2024.

Passenger deaths fell compared with 2024, the one road-user group to improve. Deaths rose among drivers and among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

2024: a small improvement that did not hold

A year earlier, the picture had looked slightly better. The RSA reported in January 2025 that 174 people died in 160 fatal collisions in 2024, down 4% from 181 deaths in 170 collisions in 2023. That was 7 fewer deaths.

The 2024 figures showed familiar patterns:

• 60 of the deaths, or 35%, were people aged 25 or younger.
• Dublin (23), Cork (19), Mayo (19) and Donegal (17) recorded the highest numbers of deaths, together accounting for 45% of the total.
• Almost a quarter (23%) of deaths happened between 4pm and 8pm.
• Seven in 10 fatal collisions happened on roads with a speed limit of 80 km/h or higher.

One detail matters when comparing years. The figures published with the 2025 results put 2024 at 171 deaths on the public-roads basis used for the year-on-year comparison, rather than the 174 first reported. Provisional figures are revised as reports are finalised, so comparisons should use one consistent series. On either basis, the story is the same: 2025 was worse than 2024 and roughly back to the level of 2023.

Who is most at risk

Young drivers remain over-represented. RSA research published in October 2026 found that, between 2021 and 2025, 189 young drivers aged 17 to 25 were involved in 178 fatal collisions in Ireland. Those young drivers accounted for 19% of all drivers involved in fatal collisions during the period.

Time of day mattered:

• Nearly one-third of the fatal collisions involving a young driver happened between 8pm and midnight.
• A further 21% happened between midnight and 4am.
• Of the 189 young drivers, 156 (83%) were male, and 22- and 23-year-olds together accounted for 55 drivers, or 29% of the total.

Vulnerable road users are the other growing concern. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists together made up 85 of the 185 deaths in 2025, and deaths among cyclists and motorcyclists reached their highest levels in years. The evening peak between 4pm and 8pm, when daylight fades and traffic is heavy, continues to be the most dangerous part of the day.

What is being done

Ireland's Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 aims to cut deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% by 2030. That means reducing deaths to 72 or lower and serious injuries to 630 or lower. The longer-term commitment is Vision Zero: no road deaths or serious injuries by 2050.

Steps already taken include:

• In February 2025, the default speed limit on rural local roads was cut from 80 km/h to 60 km/h, following the 2023 Speed Limit Review.
• Gardaí conducted more than 100,000 checkpoints on Irish roads in 2024, half of which were Mandatory Intoxicant Testing.
• Safety speed cameras continue to be rolled out at high-risk locations.

The 2025 figures show that progress towards the 2030 target is not on track. With 185 deaths in 2025 against a target of 72 or fewer by 2030, Ireland would need much faster progress than it has managed in recent years. The RSA has said the work needs education, enforcement, technology and safer road design together.

For live reports from across the country, see Ireland live accident reports and today's accident reports. For the global picture, see the world statistics page and all articles.

How these numbers were counted

The annual figures come from the RSA, based on provisional fatal collision reports from An Garda Síochána. The 2025 figures are RSA figures published in January 2026, as reported by the Press Association. The young-driver figures come from the RSA report Young Drivers in Casualty Collisions, Ireland 2021-2025, presented in October 2026.

Two scopes are used. The RSA public-roads series counts deaths on public roads (185 in 2025). The wider Garda total also includes deaths in public places, car parks and other non-public roads (190 in 2025). Provisional figures can be revised as coroners' findings arrive, which is why the 2024 total appears as both 174 (as first reported) and 171 (in the later comparison series). The latest year of data can be revised.