Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the death of his grandfather in a road traffic accident 20 years ago encouraged him to introduce more road safety laws as a legislator.

Speaking at a road safety event in Galway on Friday, Mr Varadkar recalled the tragedy of his grandfather Tom Howell, a passenger who was killed aged 82 in a fatal road traffic incident in County Carlow in 2005.

“My uncle was driving from Dublin to Dungarvan where they lived. On the Carlow Road there was a loose horse. It hit the windscreen of the car. My uncle had minor injuries, but my grandfather didn’t survive,” Mr Varadkar said.

Mr Varadkar was a junior doctor in Navan at the time, but he said the incident encouraged him to introduce road safety legislation when he became Minister for Transport in 2011 and later Taoiseach.

“The truth is there are a huge number of families in Ireland who lost somebody on the road, or who had life-changing injuries,” Mr Varadkar said.

The former Dublin West TD was speaking at a road safety event at Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill on Friday.

It was organised by road safety group PARC to welcome a new law that came into force this week, requiring motorists to supply their unique driver licence number to their insurer.

“It means people who are disqualified from driving won’t be able to get insurance,” explained Mr Varadkar.

Susan Gray, who founded PARC, after her husband died in a road traffic accident in 2004, credited Mr Varadkar for progressing the new law as Taoiseach.

But not all of the legislation was enacted on Monday, due to issues with ITC systems – and PARC called on Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan to set a deadline for its full implementation.

Aisling Reid, whose 28-year-old cousin Karl Robertson died in Artane, Dublin in March 2017, after he was hit by a disqualified motorist, said full implementation of the Act was needed.

“Karl was out jogging and was knocked down in a hit-and-run and left to die at the side of the road. A year later in court we discovered the person who killed Karl had three disqualifications and a number of previous convictions for road traffic offences. That’s why we are so passionate about this new legislation and ensuring it works effectively,” Mr Reid said.

“The Act has a provision that allows insurers and Gardaí to access real-time data on disqualifications but unfortunately and frustratingly it has not been commenced due to the fact that the relevant ICT systems have not been updated. Government has had years to prepare for this new law, but they are dragging their heels,” Ms Reid said.

Pictured: Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with members of PARC road safety group, Susan Gray and Aisling Reid, who lost relatives to road traffic incidents, pictured at an event in Galway Bay Hotel on Friday to highlight new legislation that came into effect this week requiring all motorists to provide their driver number to insurance companies when taking out insurance.