Like the introduction of penalty points, a new form of law enforcement generally sees a spike in compliance. Random breath testing has introduced a further fear factor into a driver's decision to drink drive. And the posting of garda checkpoints at music festivals and first thing in the morning reinforces this fear of getting caught.

Enforcement

There has been a notable and visible increase in the presence of gardai on the roads, which inevitably acts as a strong deterrent. More powerful than this is the actual perception that you may be stopped at a checkpoint if you drink and drive or speed. Whereas enforcement punishes bad drivers, it's the perception of enforcement that changes driver behaviour.

Education

The Road Safety Authority has launched some of the most effective ad campaigns ever aimed at shocking people into reforming their driving behaviour. Amongst them were the 'Just One Look' campaign and the most graphic ad ever shown on Irish TV, featuring a young couple pinned against a wall by the wreckage of a car. RSA heads Noel Brett and Gay Byrne (BELOW) also became consistently vocal through the media, highlighting the agency's mission and raising awareness of road safety.

Media

Deaths on Irish roads was one of the biggest news stories last year. RTE's decision to broadcast a monthly roll call of fatalities on the Six One news, Today FM DJ Ray D'Arcy's embrace of the subject and a large amount of newspaper coverage helped to highlight the issue over a sustained period of time, keeping driving practices at the top of the national agenda and prominent in the country's conscience.

Public

The main reason for the reduction in deaths on Irish roads is the co-operation of the Irish public and the collective decision to remedy the situation nationally. Disapproval of drink-driving as acceptable behaviour, community efforts like mini-buses to pubs in rural areas and widescale revulsion at the number of people . . . especially young people . . . dying last year caused a collective improvement in driver behaviour.