Road traffic accidents increase by more than a third on the Friday of bank holiday weekends, according to a leading insurance company.
Hibernian Insurance says it receives on average 35 per cent more claims on bank holiday Fridays that on an average day.
The Hibernian "Crash Report" contains for the first time a detailed examination of the company's claims records over the past four years.
It shows that in 2004 the Friday of the October bank holiday weekend was the worst day for claims, while in 2003 it was the Friday of the May bank holiday.
During the June bank holiday last year, five people died and 94 were injured.
The report also adds fuel to the age-old battle of the sexes about who is the better driver. It says: "Men are also more likely to have an accident, and make 24 per cent more claims than women."
The report says Ireland is "a nation of self assured drivers", with 92 per cent claiming to be confident behind the wheel, and a further 82 per cent saying that they would pass their driving test if they sat it again today.
But report found that one-third of these confident drivers have been involved in a collision, and it claims that according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists, a high proportion would fail the driving test second time round.
"What's more, 54 per cent of motorists do not know the new kilometres per hour national road speed limit of 100km/h," it says.
Hibernian's John Gregan said: "Obviously no one likes to admit that they are a bad driver, however we have been surprised by what seems to be motorists misplaced confidence on the roads."
Mr Gregan said: "Over-confidence can be dangerous and over-confidence combined with speed can be a killer."