What Irish Serious-Injury Data Says About Junctions
Junction risk is not just a general warning: the Road Safety Authority says An Garda Síochána recorded 954 motorcyclists, including pillion passengers, as seriously injured in road collisions between 2021 and 2025. Of these injuries, 38% occurred at a junction and 66% involved more than one vehicle. In multi-vehicle cases, the other vehicle was most commonly a car. The RSA also reports that failure to observe was the action most frequently noted for both the other driver and the motorcyclist. These are recorded serious injuries, not all crashes, and figures from 2022 onward are provisional.
Why T-Junctions Need Particular Attention
Earlier RSA research for 2020–2024 found that 173 of 316 motorcyclists seriously injured at junctions, or 55%, were injured at a T-junction. The periods and datasets differ, so the figures should not be combined into one rate. Together they point to a practical hazard: a motorcycle approaching a junction can be overlooked or misjudged, particularly when another vehicle turns across its path.
Actions Riders and Drivers Can Take
Riders can reduce exposure by adjusting speed on approach, covering the brakes where appropriate, choosing a position that preserves visibility and an escape route, and not assuming a waiting driver has seen them. Drivers should pause long enough to look again, judge speed and distance carefully, and avoid turning across a motorcycle’s path. These steps cannot remove every risk, but they address the specific observation problem highlighted by the RSA.
Read the RSA’s motorcycle safety campaign and underlying figures. For a broader context, the RSA’s 2025 Motorcyclist Spotlight Report reported 105 deaths and 884 serious injuries over 2020–2024. These serious outcomes make visibility, speed management and attentive observation worth treating as everyday riding skills, not occasional reminders.
