The roads of Donegal will be patrolled for the first time today by the county's own dedicated Garda Traffic Corps Unit in a bid to halt the loss of young lives there.
The new posting, comprising of one sergeant and four gardaí, was due to begin operating out of Burnfoot Garda Station from 7am.
A Garda spokeswoman said the unit will undertake a three-month pilot project in the Donegal Division, concentrating their activities in the Inishowen Peninsula - an area that has seen 17 young people die in the last 18 months.
The move came after the Government was urged to draw up a separate road safety strategy for Donegal after accidents in the county killed six young people in one weekend earlier this month.
Three men and two women in their early 20s were killed in a head-on collision near Quigley's Point, Muff, early on the morning of Saturday, October 8th.
A male passenger in his 20s died about five miles away the following morning when the car in which he was travelling struck a ditch on the Burnfoot Road.
Three teenagers were also killed in Buncrana in July 2004 when their car struck a bridge and plunged into a field.
Mayor of Buncrana Cllr Padraig MacLochlainn claimed a fresh safety initiative was needed after 17 young people were killed on Inishowen's roads in the last year and a half.