Yesterday's accident on the Dublin-Galway road brought to 289 the number of people killed on the roads so far this year. This compares to 303 in the same period last year and 314 in 1998.
Despite the marginal decline in fatalities, however, criticism continues to be aimed at the Government for a perceived failure to introduce more stringent measures to discourage dangerous and careless driving.
The Republic's annual fatality rate of approximately 12 people per 100,000 is twice that of Britain. The number of unqualified drivers on the roads continues to rise, with up to 380,000 provisional licence-holders in the State, 43,000 more than in July 1998 when the Government introduced its Road Safety Strategy 1998-2002.
Earlier this month the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Robert Molloy, defended the Government's policy on the issue, reacting strongly to criticism by citing a reduction in road deaths.
Fatalities have fallen from 472 in 1997 to 458 in 1998 and 413 last year. Serious injuries have also declined by 15 per cent relative to 1997.
Mr Molloy said enforcement of road-traffic law had also been steadily increasing under the Government's four-year strategy, with around 180,000 on-the-spot fines for speeding issued by the Garda last year and 100,000 for the first five months of this year.
In addition, more than 44,000 on-the-spot fines were issued for not wearing seat belts in the period from July 1999 to the end of last April. Other measures introduced under the strategy included the deployment of fixed speed cameras and an increase in the number of mobile detection units.
To reduce the number of unqualified drivers on the roads, the Government has opened new testing centres and recruited more personnel. As a result, the average waiting time for a test has been reduced from 34 weeks in early 1999 to about 21 weeks.
On the downside, however, the Government's plan to introduce a compulsory register for driving instructors, which it is obliged to do under EU law, is behind schedule and will not be introduced for at least another two years.
The Republic was the last EU member-state to introduce a national car test, which was also required under European road safety directives. It will be among the last to establish a penalty points system for drivers, proposals for which are due to be contained in a Bill to be presented in the Dail before the end of the year.
Mr Molloy conceded, however, that the points system would not be introduced until a computer-based national driving licence file was established. Such a file is not expected to be completed until the end of next year.
