Residents around the crash scene at Ballinacor, Co Wicklow, said they were living in fear of speeding and careless driving on the N11.
"Ever since they improved the road a few months ago the speed has increased," said Mr Vincent Murphy (48), a local man who witnessed the crash.
In the past 18 months, he said, there had been up to 20 crashes on the road between The Beehive at Coolbeg and Scratnagh Cross, north of Arklow.
"I can't use the junction outside my house anymore. If I'm crossing the road I have to drive up to Lil Doyle's a few hundred yards away and turn there."
He said he often saw the minibus which was involved in yesterday's collision being forced to drive along the hard shoulder, such was the pressure of following traffic to get past.
"I see it every morning. The quality of the hard shoulder on the road is now so good that people are using it as a second lane, making a dual-carriageway out of the road. I don't know what will stop it, perhaps police cameras or checkpointsi to be out there at all times."
Mr Murphy was stopped in his car at a junction when the accident happened. "I heard a huge bang and then I saw the lorry was pushing the minibus back down the road and into the ditch."
He immediately went to the scene, where the driver of the minibus, named locally as Mr Jackie Kavanagh, was lying on the roadway.
"He was groaning and complaining of the cold so we got a blanket and made a pillow for him. There was no movement or noise from the minibus itself."
Another local resident, Mr Donald Keogh, said carelessness was the main cause of accidents on the road. "There is nothing wrong with the road itself, but some of the drivers you'd see on it have no idea about road safety." He paid tribute to Mr Kavanagh, with whom he used to work in a garage in Arklow. "He was a first-class driver, very competent, very safe. He was never involved in an accident before."
Mr Noel Murphy, who lives just 50 metres from the scene, said the road was extremely busy when the collision happened.
He helped to stop traffic, although, he said, some drivers ignored the warnings. There were skid-marks on parts of the road where motorists had tried to overtake tailbacked vehicles at speed, only to find they were driving into the collision area.
Mr Michael Looby, the Wicklow County Council engineer, also said the road was not to blame for the high level of accidents. "The design staff have looked at this and have concluded that there is nothing wrong with the camber, while the surface is among the best we have.
"The road is in very good condition, as are all the stretches where these accidents have occurred. This is an asphalt road which is about the highest quality we've got. The large chips in the tar are designed to help drivers to maintain their grip when they are forced to brake hard."