Sir, - After yet another sad weekend of carnage on Irish roads, perhaps it's time to take a serious look at what's gone wrong; and more importantly, who is to blame. At a time when our elected representatives in Kildare Street pontificate regularly about speed etc., should they not collectively find a mirror and do some honest soul-searching?
It is my belief that a lot of the deaths on our roads this year are a direct result of the scrappage scheme introduced by the Government some years back. Previously, traffic was slowed by the sheer number of cars incapable of exceeding 60 m.p.h. Some of these older vehicles, indeed, would shudder violently if asked to do more than 45 m.p.h. The driver knew the car's top speed, without having to look the speedometer.
Enter the scrappage scheme. Now the same driver, in a powerful new car, is unfazed at speeds of 70 m.p.h. or more. There is no vibration to tell him/her to slow down. And the drivers behind are no longer restricted. The politicians got it tragically wrong. What is most evident now, is the sheer number of fools who cannot control a car at speed. The problem is with us to stay, and will be further exacerbated next year when the DOE test pushes the remaining slow cars off the road. To expect an already overworked Garda force to minimise speeding on our roads is akin to asking them to mind mice at a crossroads.
With the population of rural Ireland being told a half-pint is the limit, should we not also insist that all new cars are restricted mechanically to 70 m.p.h? The Celtic Tiger has left a lot of Irish homes in sadness this festive season. Yours, etc.,
Shanbally, Knocknagree, Co Cork.