Fewer male drivers were wearing their seat belts in 1999 than in 1991, according to research published by the National Roads Authority. Mr Finbarr Crowley, an NRA researcher, said the research which also shows fewer than half of male drivers wear a seat belt, was "a desperately disappointing result".
Over eight years, the compliance rate declined from 49.2 per cent to 48.2 per cent.
Speaking at a National Safety Council conference in Limerick yesterday, Mr Crowley said it was his view that a concentrated enforcement policy over several years was necessary. The problem was not one of attitude. "There is not enough momentum in the system to carry it over to an everyday habit. That is where the challenge lies," he said.
According to the NRA research, there is a 55 per cent wearing rate for all drivers and a 61 per cent rate for all front-seat passengers.
But there were distinctive behaviour patterns among males and females, Mr Crowley said. The number of women drivers wearing seat belts rose between 1991 and 1999 from 59.8 per cent to 68.3 per cent.
There was also a strong correlation between a driver and a front-seat passenger wearing a seat belt, he said.
He added that he was very concerned about trucks breaking speed limits. "Between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of trucks are travelling in excess of their vehicle limit of 50 miles per hour on motorways," he said.
The NRA figures show that in 1999, just 30 per cent of cars exceeded the motorway 70 m.p.h. speed limit but more than 50 per cent exceeded the 60 m.p.h. limit on dual carriageways and national primary routes. "Drivers are not allowing for the fact that two-lane roads are more hazardous than motorways," he said.
The chief executive of the NSC, Mr Pat Costello, said the council was supporting and co-operating with local road safety groups; speed, alcohol and failure to wear seat belts were the major road-safety problems. The NSC will introduce a safety activity pack for primary schools in September as part of the Department of Education's revised curriculum.
Last year, 413 people were killed on the roads in the Republic, compared to 458 in 1998.