66 road deaths so far this year

More than one person a day is being killed on Ireland's roads, the National Safety Council has warned ahead of another busy weekend of road travel.

A 20-year-old man died in a collision in Co Galway early yesterday, bringing to 66 the number of road fatalities this year - an increase of four deaths on the same period in 2004.

The latest fatality came at 5.10 a.m. yesterday when two cars collided on the N17 at Cloonacauneen, Tuam.

The young driver of one of the cars died in the crash. The two occupants of the other car were taken to University College Hospital Galway with minor injuries.

The road at Cloonacauneen remained closed for a time to allow emergency crews to complete their work.

A number of non-fatal collisions were also reported yesterday by AA Roadwatch as motorists fell foul of poor visibility and greasy road conditions.

The cold snap which made many roads impassable earlier this week may have abated but Met Éireann warned yesterday that icy conditions could be expected on high ground over the weekend.

Today is due to be mostly dry and cloudy with highest temperatures of 4 to 8 degrees. According to Met Éireann, it will stay very cold throughout the weekend, with sharp to severe frost at night with some icy patches.

A total of eight people have been killed on the roads in the past week, bringing to 33 the number killed in February so far.

Of this year's 66 fatalities, almost half (31) were drivers, 14 were passengers, nine motorcyclists, eight pedestrians and four pedal cyclists.

The figures indicate that the impact of the penalty points scheme on driver behaviour is continuing to wane. The number of road deaths last year exceeded the toll in 2003 by 43.