RSA chief: Donegal tragedy raises 'hard questions'

The chief executive of the Road Safety Authority says "hard questions" need to be asked after last week's horrific road accident in Donegal in which eight people died.

Eight men were travelling in a Volkswagen Passat on the Clonmany to Buncrana road when it collided with a Toyota Corolla. The seven passengers died instantly and the driver remains in hospital.

The driver of the Corolla, a 67-year-old man, was also killed.

RSA CEO Noel Brett said three things come to mind following the tragedy.

"We have to harness something positive out of this and see if there is more we can do," Mr Brett said.

"We have to keep doing what we are doing because it is working. We are now the seventh-safest country in Europe. We have had a 34% drop in the deaths of 17-24 year old drivers in the last 10 years.

"I think an important thing also is that we don't have a knee-jerk reaction. We must remember that the vast, vast majority of young people in this country are a shining example to us in terms of how sensible and mature they are in their road use."