New figures show that Donegal remains a black spot for road deaths.
The 2016 report from the Road Safety Authority shows there was a further increase in road deaths in the county last year with 12 people losing their lives.
This is a third of the total road deaths in the whole of the northern region.
One more person was killed on roads in Co. Donegal in 2016 compared to the previous year.
The numbers killed on roads in the county have been steadily increasing in the past few years, rising from nine in 2013 to 11 in 2015 and 12 last year.
In 2013 the Road Safety Authority said Donegal’s rate of 81 deaths per million population was twice the national average.
The mid to late Summer was a particularly bad time on Donegal roads with eight people killed in the space of just a few weeks.
Five young people were killed in two separate traffic accidents 24 hours apart in late July before a 34 year old man was killed after colliding with a truck a week later.
In September two students aged 38 and 19 were killed when their car left the road outside Ballybofey.
Two more people were killed over the Christmas period with the latest on St. Stephen’s Day, bringing the number above 2015 figures.
30 people were killed on roads in the northern region which covers Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan in 2016 an increase of 25% on 2015 figures.
Brian O’Donnell is the road safety officer with Donegal county council and he says it’s clear drivers are not listening to the messages about road safety.
