Another week of road deaths and another report published outlining the extent of the carnage on our roads. This time concentrated on the border counties, where fatalities exceed any other area in the State. Unsurprisingly, it blamed drink-driving and speeding for these woes.
What was surprising was the extent of these factors in crashes:
Alcohol, speeding and inattention accounted for 83.5 per cent of fatal collisions.
Of 107 drivers in fatal single-vehicle collisions in the border counties and Meath between 2001 and 2004, whose insurance status was recorded, 31.8 per cent had no insurance.
Some 46.8 per cent of those in fatal single vehicle collisions whose driving status is known, either had a provisional licence or no licence.
Drivers from the North were involved in about one fifth of all serious collisions in Monaghan (22.8 per cent), Louth (21 per cent) and Donegal (18.9 per cent). 20.5 per cent of drivers involved in single-vehicle collisions did not own the vehicle involved.
Trinity College Dublin's (TCD) school of psychology professor Ray Fuller, who contributed to the report, was one of many who found the report stark, worrying and alarming.
"I found the report's findings disturbing for three reasons. Firstly, the high proportion of collisions that involved alcohol, and the delinquent attitude to drink-driving.
"Secondly, the growth of the sub-culture who use the vehicle, not so much as a means of transport from one location to another, but more as a method for self-expressionand achieving group status in relation to high-risk behaviour.
"And thirdly, the difficulty passengers have in resisting a lift from a driver, who from observation, they know has drunk excessively."
Steering to Safety's project manager Maggie Martin believes the results compounded what people had already known.
"But it was the first time we were able to say in black and white that there are a higher proportion of collisions that occur around the border region. We were also alarmed at the casual attitude towards drink-driving and the racing culture, and the general complacency that people felt about racing including quotes like 'sure everybody does it' and 'it's something you grow out of'."
Donegal division traffic inspector Pat O'Donnell, a regular on radio and television describing the carnage on roads in his district, is in agreement with the report.
"I was aware we had an issue in Donegal with people being killed on the road - we're addressing that and the deaths are going down. What opened my eyes was that the problem is right along the border, it wasn't just us. I thought it was just Donegal drivers and Donegal people who had an attitude towards road safety," he says.
As for those on the other side of the border, PSNI Superintendent Bill Brown suggests "from the results of this work, it is clear that in terms of our road collisions, both north and south, the problems are broadly the same: the same causes and the same age profile of drivers. It is particularly interesting that, the areas featuring highest for collisions in the North correspond to the areas featuring highest for collisions in the Republic."
As the law currently stands, you can be stopped for drink-driving, breathalysed, found to be over the limit, arrested, charged, and then fined, jailed or banned from driving in one jurisdiction and then head back home across the border and take to your car again without fear of penalty points, insurance increases or a blemish on your driving licence.
It is the one loophole in cross-border legislation that all bodies involved in the research agree should be closed immediately. "So the question may legitimately be asked - what are we doing about it?" says PSNI Superintendent Bill Brown.
"In the PSNI we conduct intelligence-led operations to target the areas, times, driver profiles and causation factors leading to fatal and serious collisions.
"We have had a high degree of success with these operations. We also continue to work closely with An Garda Síochána. We would welcome any moves towards the harmonisation of penalties and mutual recognition of penalty points and disqualified drivers."
That, however, brings the politicians into the mix and requires a strong degree of political will to get the changes implemented.