To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for her assessment of the relationship between speed limits and road deaths.

Research shows that there is a correlation between speed and the frequency and severity of road collisions. Our system of speed limits is used to manage this risk in order to enhance road safety and reduce the likelihood of collisions. Speed limits varying according to the type of vehicle being driven and the nature of the road.

Evidence shows that more than 95% of road deaths are due to human error, with causation factors such as careless or inattentive driving, inappropriate speed for the road or the conditions, and drink and drug driving accounting for most deaths and serious injuries. NI Road Safety Partnership data available on the NIDirect website: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/ni-road-safety-partnership shows that excess speed was a contributory factor in one in seven of all fatal collisions in 2023. While excess speed is not the main causation factor for the majority of collisions that result in people being killed on our roads, it clearly has an impact on the severity of those collisions.

One of the best ways to ensure safety on our roads and fulfil our long-term goal of eliminating death and serious injury by 2050, is by changing road user behaviour. As road users we all have a personal responsibility to behave in a way that keeps ourselves and others safe. The sad reality is that if we do not change our own attitudes, particularly to speed when we are using the roads, our death toll will continue to increase.