We should rejoice at the hundreds of people who are no longer dying on Northern Ireland's roads each year

But families who lost a loved one in a 2018 crash were cast into a living hell.

Out of respect for them, there is understandable reluctance to trumpet the overall fall in deaths.

But 1970s fatality rates, applied to 2018 traffic levels (which are more than twice as high as back then), would have seen at least 700 dead on Northern Ireland’s roads last year.

We should rejoice at the 650+ saved lives.

Click here for Ben Lowry’s detailed analysis last year of long-term fall in road deaths

• Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter deputy editor

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