Madam, - Our esteemed Minister for Transport seems to be peerless when it comes to cutting the ribbon on new bypasses throughout the country, and lapping up the ensuing publicity. I wish he would show the same aptitude when it comes to sorting out the carnage on our roads. Four hundred thousand provisional drivers on the loose is not just an accident waiting to happen, it is an accident that has been happening for many many years - every single week, in every single county in Ireland.
At present the law requires that a person holding his or her first provisional licence must be accompanied by a fully-licensed driver. When was the last time you heard of anybody being convicted of this offence? I have never once heard of such a conviction.
In any case, this requirement is then waived for a person on his or her second provisional licence. They could have failed their test 10 times in the meantime, yet are still free to drive along with the rest of us. Do we want a driver like that on our roads?
The current system defies all logic.
A provisional driver can drive to the test centre unaccompanied, fail the test miserably, and then pop into the car and drive home, again unaccompanied.
This folly has to stop. Mr Cullen, over to you. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL TWOMEY, Mount Prospect, Shanakiel, Cork.