Four more people died on the Republic's roads at the weekend, bringing fatalities to date this year to 324 - just 12 short of the total for 2003.
In a separate accident yesterday, five people were injured, one critically, when a car crossed the meridian on the M1 near Dublin Airport and collided with two vehicles travelling in the opposite direction.
A Garda spokesman said that only "chicken-wire" formed the barrier between the two carriageways where the northbound driver lost control at 10.30 a.m. The driver, who was not injured, was arrested and taken to Santry Garda Station for questioning before being released. A file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A male passenger in one of the southbound cars was taken to nearby Beaumont Hospital in a critical condition. A second occupant of the car was also being treated at Beaumont, while two other passengers and the driver of a second car were also hospitalised.
The southbound side of the road was closed all day, resulting in what gardaí said were the worst traffic delays since the motorway opened. Tailbacks were still stretching for 10 miles last night.
Elsewhere, two of those killed in the weekend's crashes were named. They were Ms Marianne Costello (19), a pedestrian who died when struck by a car on Clonsilla Road, Dublin, early on Saturday, and Mr John Cahill (68), of Gort, Co Galway, who was fatally injured when his car collided with another near Clarecastle, Co Clare on Friday night.
In other accidents, a motorcyclist in his late-20s died and his female pillion passenger was injured when their motorbike collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Co Meath on Saturday evening.
The accident happened on the Trim-Navan road at 5.15 p.m. The passenger is being treated at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, in Drogheda.
A male pedestrian in his 70s died after being hit by a van at Kiltoom, near Athlone, just before 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The latest deaths bring the total this year to 324, compared with 291 for the same period last year, and 336 for the whole of 2003.
A 31-year-old truck-driver appeared at a special sitting of Cavan District Court yesterday morning, charged in connection with a fatal accident near Belturbet, Co Cavan, on Thursday.
The crash between the articulated truck and a four-wheel-drive vehicle resulted in the deaths of Ms Fiona Ronaghan (33) and 60-year-old Mr John Gilleece.
