Madam, - The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan has to be admired for trying to put more manners on car drivers. The latest threat is to seize the cars of those who dare drive without insurance. Oh dear, that should put the frighteners on them!
Laudable as the proposal is, there is one essential ingredient missing. Who will do the catching? Will it be the same gardaí who have caught in their thousands those who have broken the speed limits, those not wearing seat belts, the learner drivers who continue to career blithely around the place without an L-plate displayed and without a qualified driver beside them, and most serious of all, those who drive every day with children unsecured in their cars? Sad to say, the last category are mostly mothers, who treat their week's shopping with more concern than their children.
The introduction of the penalty points system for speeding saw a temporary drop in the numbers caught but soon it dawned on drivers that, for it to be effective, there would have to be a greatly increased Garda presence on the roads. Without this, it was inevitable that drivers would revert to their previous bad behaviour.
Periodic pleading by Ministers and road safety spokespeople in the past proves that this makes absolutely no impression on bad drivers who are not swayed by mere words.
What will work is a far greater Garda presence - not just at Christmas or busy holiday weekends but on a 24-hour daily basis. Costly no doubt, but we are only deceiving ourselves if we believe that bringing in new rules without strong implementation will solve the slaughter on our roads. And our track record in this area has been deplorable. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN M. REDMOND, Hazelbrook Road, Terenure, Dublin 6.