Drivers in a group of 20-somethings in a pub are not likely to brag about having driven home last night after downing six pints. They are much more likely to boast of having driven from Dublin to Cork in 2 1/2 hours.

The difference in attitude comes down to social acceptability in the 1990s. They do not drink and drive like older generations, yet talk of "speed kills" among the invincible classes provokes glazed looks.

Quote the horrific statistics - record road deaths for each of the past three years, 4,448 people lost in a decade, 22 in the past week alone - and the typical reaction suggests a "this does not apply to me" mindset.

Eliminating the social acceptability of speeding is not the only requirement, but is the single most important means to reducing deaths on Irish roads, according to Conor Faughnan of the Automobile Association. "The 20-somethings tend not to be drink-drivers but they have no compunction about speeding."

Their attitude to drink-driving was slowly but effectively forged by sustained messages from road safety agencies now under the ambit of the National Safety Council (NSC). The agencies went into schools and got to young people before they ever sat behind a wheel, he says.

The NSC last week launched its "serial killer" anti-speeding advertising campaign. The main target is male drivers between the ages of 25 and 34 years. They are responsible for the biggest number of accidents, says NSC information officer, Gavin Freeman.

These drivers don't see themselves as a "culpable factor" in accidents. "They are over-confident about their own ability to handle a car or bike at high speed. Nor do they feel it is likely that they will be prosecuted."

The campaign is controversial because some health education specialists say the scare approach does not change behaviour.

Jacky Jones, senior health education officer with the Western Health Board, says there is growing evidence that scare campaigns "don't work with any issue, whether it's road safety, smoking or drug abuse. Human behaviour is more complex".

The NSC, nonetheless, hopes to challenge the over-confidence. The campaign also applies to a broader range of driver.

"There's a tendency to speed in all of us. There's a speeding monster we must keep down," Mr Freeman says - British research says speed is directly responsible for 27 per cent of crashes.

The current Irish road death rate is 13 per 100,000 of population. We may not be in the worst league - Mediterranean countries vary from 20 to 30 per 100,000 - but we are a long way off the better league. Within that band is Britain (7), the Netherlands (7) and Sweden (8).

The NSC defends a shock approach and targeting the young. It is satisfied it will promote behavioural change and prompt motorists to reassess their driving performance/style by asking: "Do I speed? Do I get into a car having taken alcohol? Do I take chances on the road?"

Exceeding safe speed, not merely breaking speed limits, is the most frequent contributory factor in accidents. One must also consider indications that over 90 per cent of accidents can be partially attributed to a driver making a mistake or taking a chance.

Focusing heavily on driver role is therefore warranted, according to Chief Supt John O'Brien of the new Garda Traffic Bureau. It is overseeing the expansion of Operation Lifesaver, which aims to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by high-profile, proactive policing.

Driver attitude is the most critical factor, he says.

In operation since July, the campaign is working but will take time to show its worth fully in reducing deaths. But putting in an adequate "enforcement infrastructure", he adds, will take time.

Best practice elsewhere will be adopted. An overall strategic approach will incorporate "enforcement, education/awareness, and engineering". This will include widespread photo-radar/infra-red equipment on national primary roads and in urban areas.

Since 1989, the London Metropolitan Police has brought about a 41 per cent reduction in road deaths/serious injuries with the use of 400 photo-radars on the M25, the notorious London ringroad.

He is particularly interested in the approach of the "enforcement leaders", Victoria state in Australia, which has effected a 50 per cent reduction in 10 years.

A key element there is good technical back-up, a stringent speed penalty regime and courts in tune with road safety needs.

He is not saying how Ireland will embrace better road safety ultimately, but notes the introduction of a penalty points system for motorists in the North and the strong emphasis on reducing speed in successful countries - an EU road safety report says effecting a 5km/hour average speed reduction would bring a 25 per cent cut in road fatalities.

Psychologist, Dr Ray Fuller of Trinity College, who has a special interest in road safety, says the causes of record Irish figures are not clear cut.

It was predicted 10 years ago that an "age bulge", now evident in the 18 to 23 bracket, would inevitably lead to more drivers and more accidents, though this is not necessarily the cause of current trends. We have the best road network we have ever had, "with roads designed for high speed", and yet road deaths continue their rise. We have safer cars but they're capable of higher speeds.

New car registrations are hitting record levels. But he's not pushing the panic button in response to any particular causative factor pending full evaluation of the figures.

Accidents are caused by a combination of factors coinciding. Separate from safety/publicity campaigns, random fluctuations can occur. Having said this, he says it is pertinent to target young drivers.

"In all developed countries, they are most at risk to themselves and to other road users . . . the critical time is within a year of a driver getting a driving licence."

This is partially due to a "risk propensity" among young people: a tendency in a new domain of experience to explore it to its limits. Hence, impromptu tests to see what they can get out of the throttle.

It often leads to error. The British road safety campaign group, Road Peace, is big on human error. The term "accident" is not part of its parlance.

"We call them crashes. They are not accidents. They are not inevitable. They are preventable," says its spokeswoman, Zoe Stow.

Within the Irish context, Senator Mairin Quill (PD) says a new integrated approach must reduce error and excessive speed but also look in a radical way at driving tests, driving schools and signposting/lane marking systems.

Essentially, road safety must come under one executive agency.

"If the same number of people who died on the roads this week were killed by terrorists, our Government would be considering emergency legislation. If some disease was responsible, every health board in the country would be on alert.

"We don't see the real human tragedy."

Road deaths within the Irish psyche continue to be accepted as a natural phenomenon.