Road deaths - We must face up to poor safety record

With six more fatalities on our roads this weekend, the carnage seems to continue relentlessly and confounds the efforts of government, gardaí and the Road Safety Authority to contain it.

Because road deaths fell for the months of August and September, Transport Minister Martin Cullen was prompted to describe it as a “glimmer of hope for the future”.

It would appear that the reduction in our appalling road toll over those two months was fortuitous, and what was witnessed this weekend is the reality that safety on our roads cannot be ensured by the various programmes that have been tried.