Madam, - As Michael McDowell's far-reaching Garda reforms continue to wend laboriously through the legislature, perhaps he and the Garda Commissioner can step back slightly and take a peep at some other, less contentious methods of improving Garda manpower availability.
One of the main areas where manpower is frittered away daily is the monitoring of Dublin city centre junctions. This usually involves gardaí standing at a junction and looking menacing in the (sometimes forlorn) hope that this pose will deter motorists from disobeying a regulatory sign or a red traffic signal.
Some of the more prominent locations where this tactic can be seen in its wasteful entirety are the O'Connell Bridge/Eden Quay junction, where the "No Left Turn" restriction is disregarded by a steady stream of apparently visually challenged motorists who happily force their way through the lines of pedestrians who are silly enough to think that the "green man" shining at them means it is safe place to cross.
Another location is the "Buses Only" left turn from Dawson Street into Nassau Street, where the same lack of driver observation is on display each day. It should be obvious that finger-wagging by individual gardaí is neither deterring nor educating errant drivers.
With the ready availability of high-quality digital imaging systems incorporating number-plate recognition technology it is well beyond time to deploy the devices at locations such as these.
This would allow the replacement of the bossy old "No left/right turn" signage with the more liberal "Right/left turn = €200 + 2 penalty points". this would give motorists freedom of choice and relieve gardaí of tedious supervision duties. - Yours, etc,
BILLY FLEMING, Tallaght, Dublin 24.
