Louth recorded one of the smallest total of road deaths last year

The scene of acrash on Main Street in Castlebellingham last September, which claimed the life of 25 year old Alison McNabb

Louth had one of the lowest figures for road deaths in the country last year, with just four people losing their lives on the road in the county.

That means that the fatality rate on Louth roads per 100,000 of population was 3.3 – a figure only bettered by Dublin (1.5), Clare (1.7), Waterford (1.8) and Limerick (3.1).

Neighbouring Monaghan was deemed the most dangerous place to drive in the country with 13.2 deaths per 100,000 of population.

Last year there were 196 deaths on the country’s roads, up six from 2013.

The Wee County also had one of the lowest percentage of drivers with penalty points in the country. Figures from the RSA show that 17.69% of drivers in Louth have penalty points, with only six counties – Laois, Galway, Kerry, Mayo, Monaghan and Donegal – having a better record.

Kirk calls for additional driving licence centre to be opened in north Louth

 

Seamus Kirk TD

Local Fianna Fáil TD Seamus Kirk has called on the Road Safety Authority to open an additional driving licence centre in North Louth.

At present anyone who wants to renew their licence in Louth has to travel to the Southgate Shopping Centre in Drogheda – a 126km round trip from Omeath in the north of the county.

Indeed, the Southgate Shopping Centre is actually based in Co Meath, meaning Louth has no such facility at present.

Commenting on the matter, Deputy Kirk said: “Over the last few weeks, I have had a number of irate constituents complaining about the existing NDLS Centre in Drogheda.  Time delays, appointments not being met, shortage of staff and distance to the centre are the main complaints.”

After submitting a Parliamentary Question on the matter, Deputy Kirk was assured that an additional processing booth would be installed at the Drogheda centre to ensure those using the service spent as little time there as possible.

The RSA’s Moyagh Murdock responded: “The locations were selected to ensure that 95% of the population was within 50km of an NDLS centre. In addition, one of the features of the NDLS is that customers can visit any centre nationwide to apply for their licence or learner permit — they are no longer restricted to going to the centre in their hometown as was previously the case.

“So they can make it part of another trip, such as going to work or college, or visiting relatives in another county. They can also apply up to 3 months before their licence expires.”

However, Deputy Kirk said he would like to see an additional centre opened in Dundalk.

He said: “I urge the RSA to look at additional sites in Dundalk. Dundalk is the largest town in Ireland, with a population of nearly 40,000

“The NDLS is a step in the right direction, but there is more work to be done so that the public have easy access to the centres, where they can renew their licence in an efficient and effective matter,” said the Knockbridge man.

Plans for new RSA driver testing centre in Dundalk still on track

An artist’s impression of the proposed new centre

Plans for a new state-of-the-art Road Safety Authority driver testing centre at the old Customs Station on the Old Newry Road are still on track.

The Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland have applied to Dundalk Town Council for permission to extend the planning they were initially granted in March 2009 subject to 31 conditions.

Due to funding cutbacks, the project never proceeded beyond the planning stage but they clearly see it as a future possibility based on their planning extension request.

The plans for the 1.308 hectare site include a new single storey 612 square metre driver test building at the front (east of the site). There would also be new entrance gates and boundary walls plus planting to the front of the site and building surrounds.

There would also be vehicle parking and driver test manouevring areas at the rear of the site, while off street parking would be provided for bicycles, motorcycles, cars and medium to heavy rigid and articulated vehicles.

The council are due to make a decision on the matter on May 25^th.

Another artist’s impression of the proposed new centre