The three deaths in yesterday's crash north of Dundalk bring to 39 the toll so far this year. In January and February last year, 73 people died on the roads. The total number in 2000 was 415.
The Government currently has a five-year strategy to reduce road deaths by 20 per cent by next year, To reach this target it aims to use a combination of methods, including a penalty points system for drivers and a written test - both of which have yet to be introduced.
A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment yesterday said a Road Traffic Bill is being drafted and it is hoped the legislation will be implemented during the current Dail session.
Last July the Minister of State at the Department, Mr Bobby Molloy, announced the introduction of legislation for the penalty-points system, which was first mooted in 1998. He said in December that considerable progress had been made on the strategy and pointed out it still had two full years to run.
The minister said a reduction in road deaths of 20 per cent by 2002 was still achievable and he blamed the delay on introducing the penalty points system on the provision of information technology for the project.
A spokeswoman for the National Safety Council, which was involved in developing the strategy, said yesterday it was a good one but the organisation had criticisms about aspects of its implementation. One area criticised is the delayed implementation of the penalty points system.
For the system to be introduced, it must be legislated for, and a driver and a vehicle register must also be in place. These aspects are linked, the spokeswoman said.
The council's chairman, Mr Eddie Shaw, said in December the penalty points system was supposed to have been developed during 1998, with legislation to enact it brought in by 1999. He criticised the Government's funding for the strategy, which he said was "in bits and pieces all over the place". Gardai yesterday said no date had been set yet for the introduction of the scheme.
Last month a dozen wrecked cars were displayed on the Dublin-Belfast road outside Dundalk in a renewed attempt to curb the spiralling number of road fatalities, especially in the Louth and Meath area.