Sir, - I wonder have any of your readers come across a new trend in "L plates" which I find worrying. The letter "L" in red is cut out of its white background and displayed on the windscreen of the car, giving a much less visible warning to motorists that the driver is in fact a learner.
I have no grudge against learner drivers but I do think that the Garda should clamp down on this "carry on". I notice that the majority of culprits are young males. It is as if they are embarrassed to be seen with L plates on their car so they try to disguise them as much as possible (the L plates tend to spoil the look of their GTis). Some of the plates I have seen are minute and one would have to be inches from the car before they could be seen.
Nobody likes being a learner driver but everyone has to put up with it until they pass the test. When I myself was a learner driver I had to put on the red and white stickers and suffer the consequences (horn-blowing, etc.) so I don't see why these "cool" young drivers should be allowed to disguise the fact that they too are learners. - Yours, etc., John Flavin,
Midleton,
Co Cork.