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Police in South Area held an intensive 'all-out' Day of Action on road safety today Tuesday 28 July, as part of a wider operation aimed at reducing deaths on Northern Ireland's roads. The initiative, called Operation Lifesaver, comes after 42 people lost their lives on the region's roads so far this year, with 19 of those deaths occurring in South Area.
As well as Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, South Area takes in Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council, Fermanagh & Omagh District Council and Mid Ulster District Council.
Officers throughout all four Districts in South Area dedicated duty time on every shift to the day of action, concentrating on what is known as the Fatal Five: drink and drug driving, speeding, use of mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts, and inattention or poor decision making by drivers. Activities carried out as part of the operation included vehicle checkpoints, roadside breath tests and excess speed detections. The day involved not only Road Policing Units and frontline officers who normally carry out these duties, but also detectives and staff from more office-based roles whose day-to-day work does not usually include road policing.
South Area Commander Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett said the scale of loss of life on the roads, particularly in rural areas, was having a devastating impact. He said: "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."
He added that every five days a family receives some of the worst news they will ever get, and said this situation cannot continue. Chief Superintendent Haslett said everyone has a responsibility to make sure it ends now, calling for a change in how people act as drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and road users of all kinds.
He said: "We need to transform how we approach road safety, protect lives and make sure no one else dies needlessly."
Chief Superintendent Haslett urged road users to reflect on the Fatal Five and ask themselves honestly whether they are guilty of any of them. He said: "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?"
He acknowledged that it can be easy for people to believe tragedy will never affect them or their loved ones, but said the reality is very different. He said: "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."
Chief Superintendent Haslett concluded by appealing to all road users to take greater personal responsibility. He said: "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."
