NI road deaths WORSE than last year despite coronavirus as fatalities hit 50

Police not far from the scene of the A1 accident

A man in his 30s who was killed in a crash on the A1 dual carriageway close to Dromore around 5am today was the 50th victim according to PSNI statistics.

He was heading south in a blue Mercedes when it left the road.

No name for the man has been released yet.

Despite the reduced traffic due to the Covid curbs, 2020 has been worse to date than the same period last year, when there were 44 deaths (and 49 this time in 2018).

Thirty-six victims have been male, and 14 female.

The A1 death is only the second to have occurred on a motorway or dual carriageway this year.

Fatalities occur on what the PSNI designates ‘rural’ roads at a rate three times higher than on ‘urban’ roads.

Half of the deaths so far this year have been drivers of vehicles; eight have been passengers.

Meanwhile seven deaths were of motorcyclists.

Anyone who saw the A1 crash or who has dash-cam footage is asked to call officers at the Collision Investigation Unit on 101, quoting reference number 142 02/11/20.

Trevor Lunn, independent MLA for Lagan Valley (formerly of the Alliance Party) told the News Letter: “Well, it’s another fatality on the A1. The A1’s got a bad reputation because of the number of accidents on that road.”

He said many such accidents are linked to the A1’s many “gap junctions” – notoriously-dangerous crossings in the middle of the carriageway – although there was nothing to suggest they were a factor in this fatality.

Mr Lunn added: “Thankfully we don’t have as many [road deaths] these days, but that doesn’t diminish the effect on the family and loved-ones. Wherever he came from, or whoever he was, I’d express my sympathies.”