Drivers are becoming increasingly more cautious when driving on the motorway, some even buying new cars.
New data shows thousands of fewer journeys have been taken on the country's motorways in recent weeks after the fatal M9 crash last month that killed five teenagers and seriously injured a family of four.
“It is terrifying, I was coming back from Belfast two weeks ago and the only thing I could think about the entire time was, what if someone is driving the wrong way?” said one driver to Sarah Madden, Newstalk's reporter.
Broadcaster Clare Ronan shared her story on Lunchtime Live, she saw someone driving the wrong way on the hard shoulder on the motorway over a year ago and how the recent accidents have made her much more conscious of how she and her family drive.
“I was driving to Sligo, and a car was coming in the wrong direction on the hard shoulder. I was in the middle lane, but it actually took me about 10 seconds to register what was happening,” Ms Ronan said.
The car she saw driving down the wrong side of the road was going extremely fast and was full of people. The incident happened at 11:30am on a Sunday and what really concerned Ms Ronan was her family, who were driving in separate cars behind her.
“My husband was behind me and my daughter was around three quarters of an hour behind him again. We’d all be up for a family function, and we’d all travelled from different places,” she said.
Ms Ronan and her family carpool a lot more, and when the accident happened she said she couldn’t stop thinking of the families.
Shane O’Donohue, editor of Complete Car.ie, said the data from Sunday Independent analysis's may not be the full picture.
“I know some of the papers led with suggestions that it’s up to 75,000, that it’s thousands of motorists. But that cannot be directly attributed to people changing their behaviour or people being fearful for their safety,” Mr O’Donohue said.
However, he also said that it clearly could be influenced by the recent accidents. “I’ve had conversations with friends and family as well, and people are so aware of it because the tragedy was very public.”
“On top of that, it comes off the back of another wrong-way collision only a week before on the M50,” he said.
"It suddenly makes people think that it's a common thing. Whereas, in fact, motorways are still by far, statistically the safest roads. People need to reassure themselves with that," he said.
“Hopefully we’ll find a way to reduce the chances of this happening. Again, I’d like to point out that it is still a very, very small chance of this happening to anybody,” he said.
Bernard Mulhern, the PRO of the N4 action group, came onto the show and reiterated that people are definitely more conscious of driving and what time they drive at.
“I suppose every time you go out on the road, you’re taking your life almost in your own hands. The chances of this happening are slim to nothing, but when they do, your life is in your own hands. Definitely it’s a terrible thing,” Mr Mulhern said.
Mr Mulhern is a school principal, he thinks there needs to be more education in schools, especially in secondary school, for younger people today to show them the devastation, the accidents and the outcomes.
“We know from the N4 Action Group that if somebody is fatally injured in an accident that’s not just for one Christmas. It’s for life. I think students or pupils need to see the side effects,” he said.
Various listeners got in touch to share their stories of witnessing or experiencing dangerous driving. One listener said that they are getting a different car for safety reasons and he is avoiding driving late at night.
One listener said that when they saw wrong-way driving down the motorway they reported it and was told that "it happens all the time".
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