Sir, - It is with immense distress that I write this letter. In the past five days 13 people have lost their lives on our roads. So far this year 219 people have been buried, leaving in their wake countless families and friends in mourning, countless hearts broken and countless lives ruined.
When is it going to stop? When are people going to realise that speeding only quickens their journey to the morgue, that drink driving is no longer something to brag about in their local, and that ignoring the rules of the road puts all of us at risk.
The Government is spending more and more money on advertising campaigns designed to shock us into more careful driving, and aimed at preventing the carnage. Why not spend that money on more garda∅ to patrol our roads, more speed cameras to deter those who have no regard for the limit and more driving testers to prevent untested drivers having free rein to drive however they please?
It is incomprehensible that someone can get into a car in this country and go straight out onto our roads, without ever having had a driving lesson, ever having been tested on the rules of the road and with no knowledge of the dangers involved. We are a nation of provisional drivers - licensed only to kill! Only in Ireland can you fail your driving test and go straight back out on the roads the following day. You can repeatedly fail your driving test and still drive away without any restriction.
When is the Government going to enforce the placing of speed limiters on heavy goods vehicles? When are dangerous drivers going to receive appropriate sentences? When are we going to remove licences from drink drivers for 10 years? When is it going to be compulsory to have a fully licensed driver in the car with all provisional license holders? When is the Government going to implement measures to help us stay alive on our roads?
Money shouldn't be an issue, as the implementation of new road safety measures will pay for itself. The costs can be recouped from the health service, which spends millions every year saving the lives of both victims and offenders. In this Celtic Tiger era, money shouldn't decide whether we live or die.
We, the public, also have our role to play. We are also to blame if we rush to work, overtake on bends, speed through towns and villages and show a blatant disregard for the rules of the road. So, slow down, put on your seatbelt, don't drink and drive, have respect for all other drivers and stop the carnage! - Yours, etc.,
Lara J.P. Bourton, Slane, Co Meath.