The Government's new road safety strategy, expected to be published soon, will attempt to reduce road deaths by 25 per cent.
The Minister for Transport Mr Seamus Brennan said the target should result in no more than 300 road deaths per annum.
"The survey indicates a significant improvement in seat belt wearing rates and some improvement in speeding, particularly in urban areas," he said at the National Safety Council's Road Safety Conference in Dublin today.
Part of the measures in the strategy include:
- Random preliminary breath testing for drink driving
- A new speed limit structure
- A network of speed cameras to be operated by the private sector
- Measures to address driver licensing and testing
- The full system of penalty points will be rolled out
- The establishment of a dedicated Traffic Corps
"The effect of the penalty point system can be seen in specific terms from the fact that the number of road deaths during the nineteen-month period immediately following its introduction was 112 less than the number in the previous nineteen-month period," Mr Brennan said.
"The purpose of the penalty point system is not to penalise drivers but to provide a deterrent which would encourage drivers to slow down, wear their seat belts and comply with road traffic law generally," he added.
However, the Irish Insurance Federation criticised the penalty points system saying it rapidly loosing effect.
"Much is made of the figure of 100,000 speeding detections in 2003, but the figure was 350,000 in 2002 and about 355,000 in 2001. Does this mean that people are speeding less or the gardai have stopped detection?" Mr Niall Doyle corporate affairs manager with the federation said.
Mr Doyle added that the same applied to random breath testing for drunk drivers. "Fundamentally if you drive home drunk tonight the likelihood is that you are unlikely to be stopped", he said.
Meanwhile Cycling Ireland (main cycling sports body) and the Irish Cycling Campaign (an umbrella group for commuter and transportation cycling groups) have for the first time joined together to call on the Minister to intervene against the NSC.
They are asking the Minster to direct the NSC to issue a full and public apology and to retract the claims it made regarding cycling helmets.
According to the Cycling groups the NSC has caused particular offence by trying to proclaim cycle-helmets as "life saving" equipment.
"Cycle helmets are neither intended, nor expected, to protect in impacts with moving motor-vehicles: the main case of cyclist fatalities," the groups said in a statement.
The cyclists described the NSC's behaviour as "grossly offensive" and they added "as a result of the NSC's public comments, the parents of children killed in impacts with moving motor vehicles are left asking themselves whether the deaths of their loved one might have been prevented".
