Road deaths for the year climbed above 100 today as 31 new penalty point offences came into force.
A total of 102 people have been killed on Irish roads - four more than the same period last year.
The new penalty point offences, coupled with the planned introduction of random breath testing, is the Government's response to the increasing carnage.
The authorities also plan to introduce a ban on the use of mobile phones while driving and roll out a network of privately operated speed cameras.
Dangerous overtaking, breaking red lights and crossing a continuous white line are among a list of new offences that will attract fixed fines and penalty points from today.
A Garda computer system is due to be linked to the Courts Services shortly to ensure that the system becomes fully effective.
But road deaths have remained stubbornly high this year, having reached a four-year high in 2005.
Labour's Jan O'Sullivan claimed today the safety of school children was not being taken seriously enough under the new penalty points offences.
Ms O'Sullivan said: "Failure to obey a school warden is an extremely dangerous practice, putting the lives of countless children at risk. And yet it only gets a driver a single penalty point if they are caught.
"Pulling up too close to the car in front of you will get you two penalty points, but ignoring a school warden as they try to get children safely to school will only get you one.
"Failure to stop for a Garda also gets two points. Why do school wardens and school children not get the same protection? It doesn't make any sense," she said.
The imposition of a penalty point for the use of the right hand lane of a motorway by a bus or a heavy goods vehicle has angered hauliers.
Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association said it was accepted road practice to move over into the right hand lane when traffic was entering a motorway from a slip road.
Mr Quinn said this rule removes any discretion from the driver and was not in force anywhere else in the European Union.
