Road deaths demand more Garda action - IMO

Increased Garda enforcement of driving laws on drink and drugs is needed to curb road fatalities during the bank holiday weekend, the Irish Medical Organisation has said.

The IMO warned motorists against driving while under the influence of drink, drugs and medication, and cautioned against speeding and driving when tired.

The warning comes as the death toll on the roads rose to 165 yesterday, following the deaths of two Donegal teenagers whose car was involved in a head-on collision with a van.

The crash happened at Tramore junction between Creeslough and Dunfanaghy in northwest Donegal just before 8am.

The men, in their late teens, both from Horn Head peninsula, had been on their way to work. Both died at the scene. The van driver was not injured.

There have been almost 40 more road fatalities so far this year than in the same period last year.

"After a period when road traffic fatalities were in decline, they have started to become a subject of concern again," IMO president Dr Asam Ishtiaq said.

The IMO called for the blood-alcohol limit for motorists to be reduced form 80mgs to 50mgs, in line with the EU standard.

But Dr Ishtiaq said more Garda action was necessary to enforce road safety laws. "We believe increased public awareness campaigns on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol are necessarily coupled with an increased rate of enforcement for such offences."

There was also a need for regulation and enforcement on driving under the influence of drugs and other substances, he said. "There is a dearth of resources - equipment and trained personnel - within the Garda Síochána and we have called for those resources to be funded."

More than 900 motorists have been arrested for drink-driving during June bank holiday weekends from 2000 to 2004, according to the National Safety Council.

"Even one drink will affect your driving ability as alcohol can impair the function of the brain. At half the legal limit, drivers are twice as likely to be involved in a collision and at the legal limit drivers are six times more likely to have a collision," Alan Richardson, acting chief executive of the NSC, said.

Mixed weather conditions are expected over the weekend according to Met Éireann, with the best weather due on Monday.

Showers, some heavy, will affect most of the country today.