Data from the Road Safety Authority shows that the number of road accidents increased by 13% last year.
Preliminary data from the RSA showed 155 people died in 149 road crashes in 2022, up from 137 deaths in 124 crashes the previous year.
Figures show 41 pedestrians were killed on Irish roads last year, nearly double the number in 2021, when 21 pedestrians lost their lives.
Drivers accounted for the highest proportion of deaths at 39%, with 60 fatalities last year, down 10 from a year earlier.
The number of passengers who died increased by 22% from 18 in 2021 and 22 last year.
A total of seven cyclists were killed last year, the same number as in 2021.
The data also shows that over 1,290 serious injuries had been recorded as of December 29, down slightly from over 1,340 in the same period of 2021.
Cork and Dublin recorded the highest number of deaths, 13 each, while Limerick lost ten people on the streets.
Where it was possible to determine whether or not the driver and passengers killed were wearing seat belts, a total of 19% were found not to be wearing seat belts.
The figures were released following an analysis of preliminary reports of Gardaí fatal collisions.
Reacting to the figures, Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers said: “I am very concerned that so many lives have been lost on the roads in 2022,” reports RTE.
RSA Chairperson, Liz O’Donnell said she was “particularly concerned by pedestrian deaths” and that the RSA “weren’t expecting that”, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, she said that the figures released are provisional and some fatalities are still being investigated by gardaí, but that “speed is a factor in pedestrian deaths. If you hit a pedestrian at 60kmh, nine out of ten pedestrians will die. If you hit them at 30kmh, nine out of ten of them will survive. So the impact of speed on these pedestrian deaths is really critical”, reports RTE.
She said research shows people don’t obey speed limits.
Ms O’Donnell said the RSA is “urging the Government to review all national speed limits”, reports RTE.
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