The chairman of the Road Safety Authority renewed his appeal for drivers to take care on the roads today — one of the busiest motoring days of the year.
Veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne admitted he felt powerless after seven fatalities over the Easter weekend brought the total number of road deaths in 2006 to 124.
"One can only have a sense of frustration and anger and helplessness that such deaths continue on the road," he said.
"Today, of course, is one of the busiest days of the year with people flooding from all over the country back to where they came from and you can only make the same appeal to everybody, which is the appeal I made on Thursday at the beginning of the Bank Holiday weekend.
"For example, whatever speed you find you're doing on the road, back off by 5km per hour. Just do that and don't think about it and don't question it, just back off whatever speed you're doing and slacken off by 5km per hour.
"And then in addition to that, try to do something courteous or mannerly with other road users and try very hard to relax and take it easy while still being vigilant."
He added: "Unfortunately, all the warnings and all the dreadful, harrowing television commercials and radio commercials and photographs in the newsapers down through the last few years, apparently there are a great number of people who just don't read newspapers, don't watch television, don't listen to radio and don't pay them any heed and so it goes on, it's appalling."