The main target of the Government's five-year road safety plan is unlikely to be met, following the high number of road fatalities so far this year.
The Road to Safety strategy had set a target of reducing road deaths below 378 a year by the end of 2002.
Despite steady reductions in road deaths since 1997, figures have not yet fallen below 400. There were 411 road fatalities last year and 68 deaths have been recorded so far this year in less than two months.
Mr Pat Costello, chief executive of the National Safety Council, said the target would not be met unless road-users were targeted by several schemes and initiatives immediately.
"I would hope it could still be met, but we have a long way to go," he said.
Mr Costello was speaking at the publication of the council's 2001 review, which showed that 12,000 people were injured on the roads; of these, 1,600 suffered serious injuries.
He said the delay in introducing the penalty points system for driving offenders was regrettable and he hoped the scheme would be introduced sooner rather than later.
Mr Eddie Shaw, the chairman of the National Safety Council, said a reduction in road accidents would reduce healthcare spending and insurance costs.
If the necessary investment was made, the incidence of road crashes, deaths and injuries could be halved under the next road safety strategy, Mr Shaw said.
"This could mean saving 200 lives and nearly 1,000 serious injuries every year," he added.
Speed, drink-driving and lack of seatbelts still account for the greatest number of road injuries.
Mr Costello said the most recent study on seatbelts found that the number of back-seat passengers wearing seatbelts was "appallingly low" at 20 per cent.
The council's recent television advertisement on seatbelts had been very successful, he said. In a survey, 88 per cent of adults claimed to have worn their seatbelts more often as a result of the advertisement.
A survey on the recent drink-driving advertisement showed that it had made 97 per cent of young drivers think twice about drinking and driving. Mr Costello pointed out that alcohol was now a factor in 30 per cent of crashes and 40 per cent of fatal crashes.
The National Safety Council review also showed a major increase in deaths from fires last year.
Some 62 people died in fires in 2001 compared with the 46 who perished in 2000.
More people died in fires last year than in any of the previous 16 years.
The first three months of 2001 accounted for 40 per cent of fire deaths. Older people living alone in rural areas accounted for a significant number of victims.
