Sir, - The reports of deaths on our roads over the past few days make very grim reading. Yet, amid this annual carnage, there is a low level of enforcement of the law by gardai. Is this because the only basis on which their success is publicly measured is the crime statistics report? For example, in all my time on the M50, I have yet to see one motorist stopped for speeding, yet I regularly get overtaken by cars driving, I estimate, at more than 90 m.p.h. I have yet to see anyone stopped because a child under 12 is sitting in the front seat, yet on every road every day, there are hundreds breaking this law. This lack of enforcement is sending out one clear message: don't expect to get caught and, if you do, put it down to bad luck! Here are a few suggestions (harsh though they may be):
All drivers under 21 years should be limited to a maximum speed of 50 m.p.h. and, on motorways/dual carriageways, to the inside lane. All such drivers must display an "R" sign front and back. Breaking this law should result in a mandatory ban of at least one year and the alteration of a driving licence from "full" to "provisional."
Provisional drivers must be accompanied at all times by an experienced driver aged over 25. (It is a staggering abdication of responsibility that the Government and Garda allow 330,000 unqualified persons to drive daily on the roads - including those who have taken the dribing test and have been assessed as incompetent and/or unsafe.)
No provisional drivers should be allowed on the roads between 9.30 p.m. and sunrise. Breaking this law should result in a mandatory five-year ban.
Gardai should actively enforce all road safety regulations day and night. Lawbreakers should expect to be caught.
One wonders what it will take to motivate our politicians and police chiefs to do something. Whatever they do, we the public must support them. - Yours, etc., T. Gerard Bennett,
Templeroan Park, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.