Hundreds of letters from secondary school students are arriving on the desk of Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, at the Department of Education this week.
They all demand that driver education be included in the curriculum. It follows a nationwide 'letter to the minister' campaign organised by the organisation Safe Driving Pledge.
Jim Connolly of Safe Driving Pledge, said Ireland needed to implement a comprehensive driver education programme similar to the United States, where schools have their own driving departments.
"For every 60,000 students who sit the Leaving Certificate each year, 1,000 of these are unlikely to reach the age of 25 because they will die on the roads," said Mr Connolly.
The Minister for Education, above, says that she has been advised there is no need for driver education to become part of the second-level curriculum, as it is in the US.
The sixth-year students of Laurel Hill Colaiste in Limerick were one of the groups of students who disagreed with her. This is their prize-winning letter to the minister.
Dear Minister Hanafin,
I am a seventeen-year-old Leaving Cert student. I am the product of your educational system.
I can tell you the bond structure of methane, the height of Mount Kilimanjaro and the depth of the Red Sea, the intricate formulas of Sine, Cosine and Tan. I could draft a Curriculum Vitae in 10 minutes flat ... in French, English or Irish.
I couldn't, however, even begin to tell you how to drive a car. I am positively ignorant when it comes to the rules of the road. I'd be at a complete loss if questioned about the location of engines, never mind their mechanics. A jack? Do you mean that man sitting in the passenger seat? It is undeniable; I am clearly in dire need of driver education.
In 10 years time will I value my geography knowledge? Will I use it day in, day out? Will my understanding of induction, differentiation or logarithms get me to my office? Will chemistry knowledge assist me in my pumping of a flat tyre? Not in the slightest.
And so, a gaping hole in the education system becomes blatantly obvious. What good is a doctor, the proud possessor of the coveted 600 points, if she can't drive to her dying patient's bedside. The power to prevent this resides in one person's hands.
That person is you, Minister. Driver education is quite simply, vital. Why deprive students of such a necessity?
As the years tick by, cars become stronger, engines become bigger and availability of vehicles greater. So too increases in speed, accidents and deaths on our roads. More and more lives are snatched from the young and innocent. Yet, the nation's approach to educating drivers remains shockingly lackadaisical. Education is being used to combat teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and eating disorders. Why not attack speeding with the same lethal weapon?
Imagine the following scenario: a car drives along a darkened road. The carefree faces of its young passengers are illuminated momentarily by oncoming headlights.
Seconds later, the car is overturned by those same lights - belonging to a speeding vehicle. The carefree faces are drowned in a sea of blood, their youth abruptly diminished. Both passengers are dead.
I am pleading with you, Minister, to prevent this situation from becoming a reality. One in 60 Leaving Certificate students will die before reaching 25 due to speed on our roads.
A slight change to our reputable educational system could save thousands of lives.
It is up to you. Teach the drivers of the future the true meaning of safety on our roads. Implementation of driver education as part of our Leaving Certificate curriculum would not only serve to better the system, but to save students' lives.
The ball lies in your court. It is a matter of life or death.
You have the power to make our roads safe. You have the power to do what you know is the right thing. You, and only you, have the power to prevent such wasteful, futile death.
On your shoulders may the decision lie.
Yours sincerely,
6th Year Students. Laurel Hill Colaiste, O Connell Avenue, Limerick.