Easter 1998 will long be remembered for the dramatic signing of the Northern Ireland Agreement. It may also be remembered by some for its unseasonable snow, hail and bitter winds. But it will not be remembered - except in the minds of those cruelly and intimately affected - for the dozen deaths on the roads of the Republic. For in this respect, it was an ordinary bank holiday weekend. And that, perhaps, is the most shocking thing about it.
In one of the weekend's many accidents, a car carrying five people along the Clontarf Road in Dublin went out of control, struck a parked car and crashed. A young man and woman died; another young woman is critically ill. In Sligo, a young boy died after being run over by a lorry. In Carraroe, Co Galway, a pedestrian was killed by a car whose driver failed to stop. Such events are horrifying, but also commonplace, even routine. So far this year, 107 people have died in road accidents. The total for last year was 474, compared with 453 in 1996, 433 in 1995 and 404 in 1994. Yet there is no great demonstrable public concern about the carnage. Violent crime - which at peak levels claims a tenth of the death toll of road accidents - was a major issue in the last general election. Road safety was not an issue at all. Is there not something odd about people losing sleep over the risk of death at the hands of a violent criminal when they are far likelier to die at the hands of a respectable citizen behind the wheel of a car? Even in Northern Ireland, where accident rates are lower, the numbers dying on the roads greatly exceeded those killed as a result of the Troubles, even in the worst years of the conflict.
The reasons for the high death toll have been rehearsed and debated often enough. Alcohol remains a factor. Incompetent driving is widespread, thanks partly to the laxity of Irish laws governing provisional licence-holders. Many people ignore the law on wearing seat-belts: only 56 per cent of drivers and front-seat passengers belt up, according to the National Safety Council, compared with 91 per cent in Britain. In this respect, people are reckless even with their children's lives: it is estimated that 80 per cent of children travel unrestrained.
Economic success has also come at a cost in human lives: more vehicles mean more accidents. In particular, there has been a 35 per cent increase in the commercial vehicle fleet since 1990 and a corresponding rise in the number of collisions between trucks and cars. And it seems almost certain that the scrappage scheme, which was supposed to reduce accidents by taking mechanically unsound cars off the roads, has had the opposite effect - by putting drivers who were used to pottering along in "bangers" into cars too powerful for their level of control.
But one factor stands out above all: excessive speed. In cities, in towns, on dual-carriageways and country roads, people drive too fast. Greater Garda vigilance and harsher sanctions are essential. But, as the Garda constantly reminds us, the prime responsibility for safer driving lies with drivers. And here a shift in cultural attitudes, like those which have made smoking and drink-driving less socially acceptable, is needed. Too many drivers still think speeding is a minor misdemeanour, easily justified - in some cases, even something to be proud of. But, given the scale of death, maiming and misery it causes, can anyone doubt it is a grievous, modern-day sin?