Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) are appealing to motorbike, scooter and moped users to take care on the roads this bank holiday weekend and throughout the summer after an almost 70 per cent rise in fatalities last year.
27 motorcyclists died on the roads in 2013, up from 16 in 2012. They accounted for 14 per cent of the road deaths last year despite making up less than 2 per cent of road users.
Two motorcyclists have died so far this year.
Gardaí have released four clips illustrating dangerous driving and near misses involving motorbikes on Irish roads to coincide with their appeal.
A provisional analysis of motorcyclist deaths last year identified four main factors behind the deaths:
- A motorcyclist overtaking someone turning right, resulting in them colliding with the side of the turning vehicle
- A motorcyclist, while overtaking, colliding head on with an oncoming vehicle
- A motorcyclist losing control while cornering and crossing into the path of an oncoming vehicle or colliding with a pole, or wall on the other side of the road
- A driver failing to see a motorcyclist when turning, driving through a junction or joining a main road from a minor road and colliding with the motorcyclist.