Madam, - Yesterday's edition quotes the Taoiseach as saying, "All we can continue to do is to urge people to show caution". I suggest we can go a little further and treat the death rate on our roads as the crisis it is. People do what you inspect, not what you expect.
Our cash-rich Government can remove all limits on Garda overtime in order to blanket the country with patrols that will rapidly improve drivers' level of care. It is not very long since the introduction of penalty points caused such a response.
The crisis is now sufficiently grave to warrant the recall of Dáil Éireann members from their undeserved holiday. - Yours, etc,
HUGH O'ROURKE,
Ballyhide,
Carlow.
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Madam, - I have been reading with some interest over the past few days calls made by sections of the media for the resignation of Road Safety Authority chairman Gay Byrne. One cannot help thinking that Bertie Ahern must be wiping his brow with relief as this scapegoat authority takes the flak for his Government's incompetence.
It is time for the Government to stop "passing the parcel" and face up to a problem which it has neglected for 10 years. Tougher legislation, stricter penalties and more gardaí on the roads would reduce road deaths. Discussion groups and expensive reports won't. - Yours, etc,
DAVID JONES,
Abbeytown,
Roscommon.
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Madam, - The Taoiseach hopes the sadness evoked by recent road deaths will evoke a more safety-conscious approach to driving. It is obvious, however, that those who are most touched by such deaths are not the ones who tend to be careless or dangerous on the roads.
The rate of road deaths has reached crisis point and warrants severe measures to curtail it. If every NCT-tested car in Ireland was fitted with a simple satellite tracking device (as is seen frequently in taxis), each car could easily be monitored by a central system and the driver could automatically be penalised for repeated driving offences.
We can never have enough gardaí to monitor the roads, whereas one satellite could cover the entire country 24 hours a day. It is a draconian and costly measure, but the death toll would drop overnight. - Yours, etc,
BARRY McDONAGH,
Richview Park,
Dublin 6.
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Madam, - Why do we not hold a national day of mourning for all those killed on our roads so far this year? We would hold such a day for a far lesser number of people killed in more unusual circumstances.
The toll on the roads is a terrible reflection on all of us, and a terrible waste of life. I suggest we hold such a day before the August holiday weekend. - Yours, etc,
MARIE HUMPHRIES,
Wigan Road,
Dublin 9.