Four more people died on the roads yesterday during what the National Safety Council called an "awful, awful day of carnage", write Frank McNally & Olivia Kelly.
In the worst of the accidents, a young Monaghan couple starting out on a holiday were killed when their Opel Corsa collided head-on with an articulated truck in Co Westmeath.
Mr Anthony Holland (21) and Ms Siobhán McConnon (17), both from Carrickmacross, had just left their home town en route to Co Kerry when the accident happened at about 8 a.m. Their car was on the wrong side of the road when it crashed, possibly after swerving to avoid another vehicle which was making a turn-off up ahead.
All four of yesterday's victims were killed within a three-hour period. In Dublin, a female pedestrian died after being hit by a motorcycle in Ballyfermot at about 9 a.m.
Earlier, Mr Brendan Lonergan (46) was killed when the articulated lorry he was driving crashed at Castletara in Co Cavan.
The day's toll brought road fatalities so far this year to 248 - 20 more than for the same period in 2003.
NSC spokesman Mr Brian Farrell said it was particularly worrying that the latest accidents had occurred just before the most dangerous time of the week on the roads. "We are about to head into the weekend, the most high-risk time of the week, and it is more than likely more people will have been killed by Monday morning. That is the tragic reality."
Road deaths had been on the decrease since penalty points were introduced for speeding in October 2002. However the scheme's impact appears to have been lessening in recent months.