The European Commission's Road Safety Action Plan, set up in 2001, aims to reduce road deaths across Europe by 50 per cent by 2010 - in effect reducing the total number of road deaths from almost 50,000 to 25,000.
Martin Territt , director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland
Today, An Post, Axa Prevention Ireland, Dublin City Council, Irish Driving Instructors' Association, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Services and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland all became signatories to the EU charter.
The organisations committed to a variety of public awareness campaigns designed to help cut road deaths and aimed at specific groups. They also pledged to assess the results.
Over 1,000 local authorities, motoring organisations and private companies across the EU have now signed up to the action plan.
Speaking today, Martin Territt, director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, said the plan had succeeded in saving 12,000 lives across Europe in 2006 as compared with figures for 2001.
"The good news is that results to date show that the action programme is working. The latest figures show clearly that this ambitious objective was justified. The last 12 months have seen an 8 per cent reduction in fatalities," he said.
Also speaking at the event, Brian Farrell of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) praised the new breath-testing measures being enforced by the gardaí.
"This June has seen two weekends with no road deaths at all. Random breath testing is really making an impact and shows we can cut the carnage on our roads," he said.
So far this year 154 people have died on Ireland's roads, compared to 189 up to the same date last year.