Ireland has some of the most dangerous roads in the EU, according to a survey by the EU statistics office in Luxembourg and published yesterday. It shows that in 1995 Ireland had 120 deaths per million people.
Portuguese and Greek roads are the most dangerous. In 1995, the latest year with full figures, Portugal's national average fatality rate was 217 road deaths per million inhabitants. Next comes Greece with 195, followed by Luxembourg with 166.
But the incidence of road deaths is falling across the EU. The biggest improvement is in the UK, which in 1995 recorded 64 fatalities per million inhabitants, beating Sweden at 65.
Mr Conor Faughnan, of AA Roadwatch, said it was a disgrace the Republic was so far behind Britain. One reason was driver behaviour, he said. Irish drivers tended to be casual about speeding and parking.
It was also common for people with provisional licences to drive without a qualified driver. In Britain that rule was enforced. Also in Britain, there was a special police motor unit to enforce the rules of the road. In Ireland the work rotated among different gardai. The Garda's introduction of Operation Lifesaver had been a good start and should be commended.
He said accidents were caused by speed, drink and other factors, including a casual attitude on the roads. "Speed is definitely the No 1 killer. We don't take our traffic laws seriously and we don't expect the gardai to take them seriously either. Seat-belt prosecutions are relatively rare," he added.
In Europe's big cities, Hamburg has the best record, with 27 deaths, followed by Greater London with 30 and Stockholm with 31.
The worst region, according to the figures, is the Luxembourg province of Belgium, with 416 road deaths per million inhabitants. Portugal's Algarve recorded 411 deaths per million in 1995.