A casual attitude to drinking and driving and the role of alcohol in fatal road crashes in the Border counties is expected to be revealed when an extensive cross-Border research study is published this morning.
The study has examined data provided by the Garda and the PSNI on road collisions and surveyed the attitudes of motorists and residents on both sides of the Border. The findings are expected to confirm the suspicion held by many motorists in the Republic that northern-registered cars drive faster on the roads in the Republic.
The research was commissioned following an earlier report by Co-operation And Working Together (CAWT) in 2002 which found the Border region had a 33 per cent higher death rate from road accidents than the rest of Ireland.
It is expected to reveal that more than half of those surveyed would accept a lift with a driver who had been drinking "excessively". The lack of taxis is given as a reason for the decision to drink and drive and to accept lifts from drunk drivers.
Over the years 2001 to 2004 in the Border counties, including Co Meath, alcohol is expected to be confirmed as the main contributory factor in fatal single-vehicle collisions, while speed was found to be the main contributory factor in collisions involving two vehicles. The research is believed to confirm that road racing takes place "frequently" in one Border county and to highlight the belief that a driver breaking the law is more likely to be caught by the PSNI than by gardaí.
The suspicion among motorists in the South that drivers from the North speed when they cross the Border is expected to be reinforced, with one statistic revealing that a northern-registered vehicle was recorded travelling at 162kph (100mph) on a wet morning near the Louth/Armagh border.
At a multi-agency press conference in Dundalk this morning the findings of the research will be published and speakers will include Garda chief superintendent John Farrelly from the Garda National Traffic Bureau, Michael Rowland, head of research with the Road Safety Authority, and representatives from the PSNI.
The research process was managed by a cross-sector steering committee comprising representation from the Garda, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Department of the Environment Road Safety Division, Road Safety Authority (RSA), National Roads Authority (NRA), Department of Roads Division (DRD), Public Health, Health Promotion and Trinity College Dublin.