Mayo road deaths in 2025 show sharp decrease over previous year
A total of nine people lost their lives on roads in County Mayo in 2025, according to the Road Safety Authority’s annual ‘Provisional Review of Fatalities’ report.
Nationally, the report shows an overall increase of 8pc in road deaths last year, with 185 people killed in 174 fatal collisions. That figure is up from 171 deaths across 157 fatal collisions in 2024.
Despite the national rise, Mayo recorded a reduction in fatalities. The county saw nine deaths in 2025, down from 19 the previous year.
In 2024, Mayo had the joint second-highest number of road deaths in the country, alongside Cork, with Dublin recording the highest total at 23.
This year, Mayo recorded the joint fifth-highest number of fatalities, alongside Louth, with nine fatalities.
Dublin again recorded the highest number of road fatalities in 2025, with 22, followed by Cork with 21 and Galway with 17. Donegal, Limerick and Tipperary each recorded 10 fatalities.
Of the total 185 fatalities last year, 41pc were drivers, 22pc were pedestrians, 16pc were motorcyclists, 11pc were passengers, 14pc were pedal cyclists, and 2pc were e-scooter users.
Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, Seán Canney, said it had been an "incredibly difficult year on Irish roads”.
“Too many families have faced heartbreak. Too many communities have been left grieving. It is a stark reminder that road safety is not just a policy area or a set of statistics – this is about people’s lives, about loved ones, about futures changed in an instant,” he said.
Mr Canney said he would continue working with road safety stakeholders throughout 2026 to improve safety nationwide.
Ireland’s Road Safety Strategy aims to achieve a 50pc reduction in road deaths and serious injuries on roads by 2030, with a long-term goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.
The strategy is currently in Phase Two of its Action Plan and is focused on 12 primary actions to deliver significant, transformative improvements in road safety.
At the local level, the Mayo Road Safety Plan 2025–2030 is aligned with national targets. It focuses on seven key elements, including safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds, safe vehicles, safe road use and post-crash response.
The plan aims to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Mayo roads by 50pc by 2030.
Between 2017 and 2025, 79 people have lost their lives on Mayo roads. The county’s target is to halve this figure by the end of the decade.
A number of legislative changes were introduced in 2025 as part of national road safety reforms.
These included closing a loophole that allowed repeated renewal of learner permits without sitting a driving test, and reducing the speed limit along rural and local roads from 80kmh to 60kmh.
Local authorities have also been asked to identify urban roads to be included in a nationwide speed limit review, which will see a 30kmh speed limit introduced in some areas by March 31, 2027.
Mayo councillors will participate in workshops later this year to discuss how the new speed limit review will be implemented across the county.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.