Opposition parties have criticised the Government over a further delay in bringing in penalty points for drivers who fail to wear seatbelts.
It has emerged the penalty points will not apply for this offence until late August. The points were to have been introduced at the beginning of July but was delayed to the end of this month.
Fine Gael spokesman on transport Mr Denis Naughten said the penalty points system was "collapsing" due to inadequate resources and a lack of commitment on the part of the Government.
"We are now being told that it will be a further 12 months before the computerised system is in place, a full six years since the Government prioritised its introduction," he said.
"How many more lives have to be lost on Irish roads before this Government wakes up to the reality - that without the adequate funding the penalty points system will collapse into a farce."
Labour's spokeswoman on transport, Ms Róisín Shortall, criticised the failure of the Government to establish a Traffic Corps to reduce road deaths in line with its commitment in the programme for government and said it was "a matter of life and death".
She said that against the background of "continuing carnage" on the roads, the failure of the Government to give the commitment the priority it deserves is "unforgivable".
"For the penalty points system to work, there has to be a real fear among drivers that those who persistentlybreak the law will be detected and ultimately will lose their right to drive. This requires a high visible level of policing that the gardaí are simply notable to provide, given the other demands on their services".
Ms Shortall called on the Government to publish the recent Review of Road Safety Strategy, which she said suggested detection levels for driving offences here are "way below the European norms".
The total number of people killed on the roads so far in 2003 is 204 as of this morning, according to the Garda.
Three men died overnight in separate car crashes in Co Cavan and Co Mayo.