High percentage of fatal road deaths due to non-wearing of seatbelts, Mayo JPC told

A high percentage of road deaths that took place in the Mayo, Roscommon and Longford Garda Division since the start of 2023 were as a direct result of the non-wearing of seat belts.

Garda Chief Superintendent Ray McMahon has told members of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that of the 15 fatal road traffic collisions that occurred across the three counties over the past nine months, five of the people who lost their lives were not wearing seatbelts.

He confirmed gardaí will be targeting the non-wearing of seatbelts in their road checkpoints and controls for the next number of months.

The senior garda officer also stressed the need for passengers in the back seat of vehicles to wear their seatbelt as they were also very vulnerable without one in the case of a traffic accident.