Minister for Transport Martin Cullen will today launch a road safety information leaflet in 10 languages as part of a strategy to target ethnic minorities.
The leaflet's publication marks the first of a series of new road safety measures that will be announced by the Department of Transport and the Garda, coinciding with an advertising campaign urging road users to take care over the St Patrick's bank holiday weekend.
The multilingual leaflet, which was produced by the National Safety Council (NSC), will be available in 10 languages including Irish and English. The other eight are Russian, Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian, French, Portuguese, Arabic and Chinese.
An updated version of the Rules of the Road booklet for drivers is also to be translated. The new edition will be the first in 11 years, and will incorporate the introduction of penalty points, the national car test (NCT) and the changeover from miles per hour to kilometres per hour.
Mr Cullen will also launch a St Patrick's weekend advertising campaign aimed at all road users. The campaign, which will include television and newspaper advertisements, will again focus on speed, alcohol and seat-belts.
It is expected that the Garda will also detail measures aimed at improving detection of traffic offences, and elaborate on proposed increases in personnel and the introduction of new technology. The campaign will be launched at an event attended by Mr Cullen, the acting chief executive of the NSC, Noel Brett, and Assistant Garda Commissioner Eddie Rock.