The Taoiseach today defended the Government's record in tackling road deaths and warned members of the public they would have to put up with a "far greater number of gardaí" patrolling the State's roads.
Mr Ahern was responding to Fine Gael accusations of "incompetence" on the issue after a report showed 63 per cent of drivers are breaking speed limits on regional roads, where most crashes happen.
The figure represents an increase from 8 per cent in 2003, when the speed limit was higher. The National Roads Authority report also showed 94 per cent of articulated trucks were breaking the speed limit on motorways.
A total of 51 people have died on the State's roads so far this year.
"The government are not sitting back," Mr Ahern told the Dáil. He said the government was introducing measures to reduce driving test waiting times, rolling out more penalty point offences, establishing a road safety authority, bringing forward a bill to provide for private speed cameras and introducing legislation for random breath testing.
But he added: "We have to also appeal to the public to take account of these issues, because I can see very quickly what is going to happen.
"We're putting a large number of gardaí on the roads they're going to set up checkpoints, it is going to be fairly difficult to ordinary law abiding people on the roads
"They're going see a far greater number of gardaí, but unfortunately [with] the kind of road deaths we have then we have to impose it without fear or favour.
"We have said to gardaí 'enforce the law' and that will create its own difficulites. But we cannot allow a situation where 50 people have died in the first five or so weeks of this year."
Mr Ahern pointed out that 30 years ago 600 people were dying on the State's roads, with half the number of cars in circulation. "That doesn't give any satisfaction," he added.
"The reality is people are not driving safely, they're taking too many risks, they're pushing the speed limits even though the roads are incrementally better than they were then".
But Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, labelling the escalating number of road deaths "a scandal of national proportions", told the House: "We have heard all of this from the Taoiseach before".
"What you've said, we have heard it before and what you have said you haven't actually implemented.
"You are now telling us that the issue of random breath testing is resolved. You gave the most complicated response to a question in this House last week that caused complete confusion between lawyers, the public, the gardaí and members of the Government.
"The random breath testing situation is not resolved. There is no reform of driver education. There is no programme... for young drivers and non-nationals driving in this country," Mr Kenny added.
He asked: "Why have we got 425,000 people on provisional driving licences in the country? Why is there a waiting list of over 53 weeks in many centres?
"Surely that is evidence of complete incompetence by whoever is in charge of that". Mr Kenny urged Mr Ahern to take "personal charge" of road safety issue.
"This is something you can actually do, actually achieve," he told the Taoiseach.
"You should see to it that for once you take charge of the half dozen ministries that have failed utterly to create an environment and an atmosphere of respect for others and understanding for the law.
"It is time for action, it is time for leadership, it is time for enforcement because lives depend on it. "
Mr Ahern said the issue of random breath testing had been cleared up.
"The gardaí can have random checkpoints, it is a different issue to random breath testing and were making the legal provision that they can have random breath testing," he said.
"The Attorney General has given his views to the gardaí, the commissioner has been before a committee in the House and he has said that they were satisfied with that position and now we have to bring forward legislation."
