Sir, - It is an unfortunate fact in this country that very few of us have not had a close acquaintance or near relative killed on our roads. I myself have lost two aunts and one first cousin in recent years in such a manner.
So far this year we have had an average of over 30 people killed every month on our roads - that is equivalent to one Omagh massacre every month.
Why has there been no reactive legislation that would endeavour, among other things, to achieve a proper enforcement of our drink driving laws applied irrespectively, as is done in the UK, where, to mention one example, Nigel Lawson's wife got "done" even though he was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time? Immediate legislation is also needed to halt the present horrendous reality which allows thousands of drivers, many of them juveniles, to drive around unsupervised, many of them for years, on mere provisional licences. Recently published statistics bear out the bloody folly of this practice.
Could the lack of a forceful reaction be in any way due to the influence of the powerful lobbying of the huge motor and drinks sector - not to mention, of course, the Government's own addictive dependence on the huge tax revenues these industries generate? Or is it all down to our traditional hand-wringing helplessness? - Yours, etc., L O Droma,
Beann Eadair, Co Atha Cliath.