Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority, Moyagh Murdock, has said it is unlikely that targets for reducing deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads will be met.
The target had been to reduce road deaths to under 124 a year by 2020, but that is now unlikely to be achieved, she said.
Ms Murdock said there is still some way to go in achieving adequate levels of policing of road safety laws, and that enforcement is key to reducing road deaths.
She was speaking at the Road Safety Authority's Annual International Conference which heard that there has been a 68% reduction in deaths on Irish roads since the first road safety strategy just over 20 years ago.
In 1998, 458 deaths occurred on Irish roads, compared with 146 in 2018.
The conference is hearing from a number of international experts about the development of the next Government road strategy, which will run from 2021 to 2030.
Ms Murdock said that the job of reducing road fatalities is not getting any easier, and that new technologies and new "killer behaviours" will be key considerations when compiling the new strategy.
The CEO added that reducing speeding and increasing the wearing of seatbelts are still a challenge for the RSA.
She said that 34% of car users who die in road crashes are not wearing seatbelts.
RSA chairperson Liz O'Donnell told the opening session of the conference that the new strategy will have to take account of the changes in society, environment, lifestyles, technology and climate change when formulating the new strategy, and that cycling and walking must be given higher priority.
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