Sir, - Contrary to Ms Rowe's opinion (Aughst 14th), I contend that the Government through our gardai are responsible for enforcing safer driving practices on our roads. I do however have a serious problem with the Government's attitude to my safety when it has surrounded me with untrained and untested drivers who daily demonstrate a total lack of competence.
Ms Rowe also appears to have missed the point of my previous letter. What I intended to convey is that the Garda resources currently directed towards improving the safety of our roads appear to be heavily biased towards reducing the speed of traffic and less attention is being directed against our deficiencies in other aspects of road safety. Driving at speed only becomes a danger to the driver and other road users if accompanied by poor driving skills and road sense/conduct. It is for this reason that I believe a road safety policy which is so heavily focused on the single issue of speed, and predominantly enforced in conditions where it is of least danger, is likely to produce poorer results than if the effort was invested in raising the nations commitment to overall safer driving behaviour.
Other European states, where traffic travels at substantially higher speeds than here, head the list year after year for the safest roads. Those same countries have highly trained dedicated traffic police with reputations for focusing on unsafe driving behaviour in its broadest sense and delivering draconian penalties to offenders.
While driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs will without exception lead to unsafe driving, speed requires the added ingredients of poor skill and an inappropriate environment. - Yours, etc.,
C. McCarthy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18.