Those rules were meant to curb reckless driving, but immediately met with criticism from drivers and some politicians, who said they were too stringent.

Supporters of the regulations — which impose severe punishments, including loss of driving licenses, for even minor offenses — said the measures helped dramatically improve safety on Czech roads, long considered some of the most dangerous in Europe.

Indeed, during the first 20 days after the law went into effect July 1 accidents were down 70 percent and the number of driving fatalities was at its lowest point in 18 years.

Last weekend, however, seemed to have reversed the trend.

Nine people died in car accidents throughout the country Sept. 16 alone.

In one accident, an unidentified car ran over a 46-year-old man near Plzeň, west Bohemia. The driver left the scene.

In another, an 18-year-old girl and her boyfriend, 21, were killed when their car crashed into a tree between Slavonice and Nová Bystřice in south Bohemia.

In another incident, four people were killed and 45 injured early in the morning Sept. 17 when a bus bringing residents and caregivers from a social care home back from Croatia skidded off the road in Austria and landed on its roof at the bottom of an 8-meter (26.4-foot) slope.

An Austrian rescue team responding to the scene told the Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes that passengers were not wearing their seatbelts, which is required by law.

Police psychologist Ludmila Čírtková denied that the high death toll was a result of drivers losing respect for the new traffic law.

"The tragic weekend was a result of an unhappy coincidences," she said.

Critics of the law said the recent weekend showed the new rules have not ensured road safety in the long term.