Holiday road toll stands at 47, with one night to go

With one night still left to go on the May Day holiday road toll period, a police spokesperson said a dreadful number of people had already lost their lives.

Right around the country we've got families planning funerals, things they would never have imagined, just a few short days ago.

There are also as many as another 77 people in the country's hospitals with serious injuries, critical injuries, who may or may not survive, the Department spokesperson said.

There's just too many people, he said, that seem impervious to the messages about the basic need to wear a safety belt, the need to slow down, the need not to drive after you've been drinking alcohol.