Gardaí arrested 315 people for drink-driving over the bank holiday weekend. Meanwhile the deaths yesterday of two men in car crashes in Kerry and Clare brought the fatalities on the State's roads since Friday to 10. Another five people were killed on Northern Ireland's roads over the weekend.
A man in his 20s was killed when his car collided head-on with another vehicle on a straight stretch of road between Tralee and Castleisland, Co Kerry.
The victim was driving in the Castleisland direction and the incident happened near Ballycarty Cross shortly before 8am yesterday.
The man, whose name has not yet been released, is the fifth person to die on Kerry's roads this year. Earlier yesterday, four others were brought to hospital after their car was involved in a crash near Beaufort, Killarney, at about 4am.
In Co Clare, a pedestrian was killed after he was struck by a car while crossing the Kilrush to Ennis Road at Lissycasey on Monday evening. The man, aged 71, had just stepped out of his own car when he was hit at 9.45pm.
A Garda spokeswoman said that 315 arrests had been made for drink-driving across the State over the weekend, while it has also been confirmed that the National Driver File and the Garda Pulse computer system are now linked, enabling gardaí to check whether named drivers have accumulated 12 penalty points.
It is understood that gardaí have decided in the past two weeks to plan to have details on disqualified drivers available through new hand-held devices distributed to Garda stations.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has faced recent Opposition criticism because that gardaí making a roadside check have no way of knowing if a driver has accrued 12 penalty points.
A driver who has accumulated the maximum number of points is automatically disqualified from driving for six months, but the onus is on drivers to return their licence to their local authority. At present, if a banned motorist continues to drive, his licence will appear "clean" to any garda making a roadside check.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has begun a round of public consultation on the retro-fitting of front-facing mirrors on large lorries. Every year, 400 people are killed in EU states while in the blind spot of a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).
An EU directive to come into force next year will require all such trucks to carry the front-facing "cyclops" mirrors but, as it stands, the requirement will apply only to new lorries. The existing EU population of HGVs, at about five million, will only be replaced in about 16 years.
The commission believes that if a legal retro-fitting obligation came into force in 2008, an extra 1,300 lives could be saved by 2020. The retrofit would concern almost four million vehicles.
A company pioneering driving simulator technology will open its first centre in Ireland next month. The new simulator-training centre will offer learner and professional drivers full simulated driving lessons, such as those offered to drivers in several European states.
The project will be launched on May 3rd by Mr Cullen.