More than 4,100 accidents and incidents have been logged on the country’s busiest motorway since the beginning of last year.
Animals on the road, hazardous chemicals, cars running out of fuel or going on fire were all among a total of 4,159 incidents recorded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland on Dublin’s ring road, the M50.
The figures show a remarkable decline in the number of incidents during the deepest lockdowns of the pandemic when significant volumes of cars were off the road.
In April 2020 during the very first lockdown, there were just 61 incidents logged compared to the average of 222 there has been in each month of this year so far.
The data shows an average of just over six incidents on the road every single day, ranging from minor crashes to serious multi-car collisions.