50 seriously injured in two years on roads

Age Concern Derry is based in Malvern House on Chapel Road.

The Detail has analysed statistics it obtained from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, under the Freedom of Information Act.

Statistics obtained for 2013/14 showed there were six road deaths in Banbridge during that period, with a total of six fatal crashes.

The data shows there were 44 serious accidents in Banbridge with 28 people slightly injured and 50 seriously injured.

The figures are also revealed for the other parts of the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council area.

There were five fatal collisions in Armagh and five road deaths while there were 57 people seriously injured and 37 slightly injured. The total number of serious collisions came to 49.

There were three fatal accidents in the Craigavon area with a total of three deaths.

There were 51 serious collisions with 54 people seriously injured and 28 slightly injured.

The second highest death toll in Northern Ireland was recorded in Banbridge’s neighbouring Newry and Mourne, where there were 12 deaths.

The highest number of crashes took place in the PSNI’s Lisburn district, where there were 100 collisions and 99 people seriously injured on the roads.

The website found out that of the 136 people who were killed on the roads over the two-year period, 106 were male and 30 were female.

There was also a significant gender imbalance in the injury statistics, with 938 males being seriously injured compared to 492 female casualties.

The figures showed alcohol and speed were the biggest cause of crashes.

Sean McGovern, a consultant in emergency medicine at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, told the website that the hardest part of his job remains telling a relative “unequivocally that their son or daughter has died”.

“The whole spectrum of grief comes into play. Denial is the first response frequently, anger about who did it, ‘why, why did it happen, why did you let him die?’ And bargaining, you know, ‘oh, please God, let this not be true’.”

Mr McGovern also highlighted the potential long term impact for those people who are seriously injured in crashes.

“Some of them are left with significant psychological trauma in terms of flashbacks to the incident and anxiety with regard to driving.