Madam, - So now it's official: driver fatigue causes accidents. Wow. As if every driver didn't know this, and experience it at some stage ("Up to 20 per cent of road deaths due to driver fatigue", The Irish Times, October 27th). So we have a little panel of advice from the Road Safety Authority telling drivers what to do if feeling tired. The bottom line is to pull in and take a 15-minute break.
Good advice. But there is often nowhere to pull in. And it is the official policy of the National Roads Authority not to provide places to pull in. In my humble opinion it's a national disgrace.
The English, the Germans and the French all provide rest areas, whether service stations with restaurants or simple lay-bys with picnic tables. These are an integral part of every road system on the Continent and the driver knows there is one coming up when he feels the need to a stop. So why do we get it so badly and dangerously wrong? - Yours, etc,
CONOR GILL, Manor Kilbride, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - I see that up to 20 per cent of driver deaths in the State may be attributable to driving when tired and that fatigue could have been a contributory factor in almost 200 deaths over the past five years. This startling revelation from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) deals only with driver deaths and does not include any details of death or injury to others in accidents resulting from drivers falling asleep at the wheel.
In the light of the foregoing, and bearing in mind the advice of the RSA that tired motorists should stop and take a nap for 15 minutes, surely the time has come when properly signposted lay-bys should be provided at regular intervals on trunk roads.
Advertising campaigns and exhortations to motorists are all very fine, but unless they are accompanied by positive steps to improve the driving environment, little progress will be made in reducing the carnage on our roads. - Yours, etc,
MD KENNEDY, Mount Saint Anne's, Dublin 6.