Police across South Area are carrying out an intensive ‘all-out’ Day of Action on Road Safety today, Tuesday 28 July.
This year to date 42 people have lost their lives on Northern Ireland’s roads, with 19 of those tragic deaths occurring in South Area.
Part of ‘Operation Lifesaver’, today’s Day of Action will see officers across all four Districts in South Area dedicate duty time on each and every shift to focusing on the Fatal Five and carrying out Op Lifesaver activities such as vehicle checkpoints (VCPs), roadside breath tests and excess speed detections. This ‘all-out’ day will involve not just those in Road Policing Units and frontline operational officers who perform these duties as part of their day-to-day role, but also other specialist functions like detectives and those in more office-based functions whose remits may not ordinarily include such duties.
South Area Commander Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett explains more: “The loss of life we are seeing on Northern Ireland’s roads, and on more rural roads in particular, is utterly heart-breaking and we as a society really need to examine what we are doing when we get behind the wheel that has led us to the position that, at this point in 2026, a person dies as a result of a collision on our roads every five days.
“Every five days a family is getting a knock to the door, giving them some of the worst news they will ever receive.
“This cannot continue.
“Everyone one of us has a responsibility to make sure this ends now. To change how we act as drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and road users of all kinds. We need to transform how we approach road safety, protect lives and make sure no one else dies needlessly.
“We can do this by really concentrating on the Fatal Five - drink and drug driving, speeding, use of mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts and inattention and poor decision making by drivers - and really asking ourselves what they mean for us and if we, as road users, are really cognisant of them when we set out on the roads.
"Are we wearing our seatbelt every time? Do we always keep within the speed limit? Do we drive after a night out when perhaps we know we shouldn’t? Do really we think about how our actions can affect the people around us? Their families, or ours?"
“It can be very easy to think it will never happen to me, or someone I love, but the reality is that it can and it does. It only takes a second of inattention, of carelessness, of choosing to get behind the wheel under the influence or to speed and a life, maybe even your own life, could be lost.
“We are all vulnerable on the roads. If we each begin to take more personal responsibility for our actions, pay heed to the Fatal Five and begin to do things a little differently on our roads, they will be a much, much safer place for all of us.”
*South Area is comprised of the Policing Districts of Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon, Fermanagh & Omagh, Mid Ulster and Newry, Mourne & Down.