THE number of people killed in road accidents increased this year for the first time in seven years, despite a €3m shock advertising campaign and the introduction of the penalty points system.

Three hundred and sixty-four people lost their lives in the year to December 17, compared with 336 in 2003, the first year-on-year increase since 1997. The worst day of the week for fatal accidents was Saturday.

Provisional figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that 23% of fatal accidents occurred on Saturdays, with Louth and Meath accounting for 9% of all crash deaths. More than twice as many men died as women.

“We are frustrated. We know what needs to be done and, while there is progress in some areas, other steps are not being taken fast enough,” said Brian Farrell of the National Safety Council.

The hours between 4pm and 6pm were the worst time of day for fatal collisions last year, accounting for 41 deaths. Between 2am and 4am proved almost as dangerous, with 38 killed. There were 124 single-vehicle crashes, compared with 15 that involved two or more.

Conor Faughnan of the AA said the figures suggested “a zone of recklessness” existed in border counties as motorists from Northern Ireland believed they could “get away” with speeding when in the south. Motorists from the north do not receive penalty points on their licences if caught in the republic and vice versa.

He added that the number of accidents in Louth and Meath would probably fall as main roads in these counties, connecting Dublin with Northern Ireland, were replaced with motorways. In total, there were 33 deaths in Louth and Meath, 28 in Donegal and 26 in Cavan in the year to December 17. Wexford recorded 24 road fatalities.

Men were killed in 258 cases, compared with 106 women. The majority of people who died — 64 — were in the 21-25 age group. The 16-to-20 category had 54, while the 26-30 bracket accounted for 43.

“The figures from 16-30 are mainly crashes involving young males,” said Faughnan. “They are usually involved in single-car accidents, in the early hours of the morning with a number of passengers on board. Drink or drugs can be a factor.” Farrell pointed out that the statistics could also include some suicides.

More accidents occurred at weekends. After Saturdays, on which 84 people were killed, Sunday proved the most dangerous day, with 70 fatal collisions. Sixty died on a Friday. The worst time for crashes at weekends was between 2am and 4am and, according to Faughnan, this pointed to high levels of drink-driving.

Motorcyclists accounted for 13.5% of all deaths, even though just 2% of road users use bikes. The Department of Transport has promised to introduce compulsory training for motorcyclists but the measure has yet to come into effect.

Other road safety measures have also been delayed. Legal difficulties relating to random breath testing, a measure recommended in the current road safety strategy, have raised doubts about its introduction. The full penalty points system has yet to be rolled out because of delays introducing a backup computer system, while a network of speed cameras also has yet to be installed. A spokesman for the Department of Transport said it had passed legislation to allow private companies take over the processing of fixed-penalty notices. He said other changes were being prepared and would be introduced in the latter half of next year.

Farrell said the safety council was disappointed with the increase in the number of road deaths over the last year, but he said the overall situation was improving. Even though this year’s figures are worse than last year, the numbers are still lower than in previous years.

“We now see about 30 deaths a month — this is down from a previous figure of about 40. If we can reduce the figure down to 20 we will be at the level of best-practice countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden,” he said.

Farrell said the months where this target was hit recently were the last two months of 2002 and the first two of 2003. These were the first four months following the introduction of the penalty points system. “This tells us why we need the full system in place,” he said.

Farrell defended the safety council’s shock advertisements, saying they had helped to save lives. He said road deaths had decreased over a number of years despite increases in the number of car users.

The worst month for road deaths in 2004 was July when 38 people were killed.

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