Madam, - While I have no doubt that Alan O'Brien's job in Sandyford (October 29th) is of great importance to himself - and may be, for all I know, vital to the State itself - such factors do not preclude the need for the gentleman to have passed his driving test before being allowed to course upon the public highway unsupervised. That he has not had an accident himself in the past four years does not mean that his lack of successfully concluded basic training in driving will not cause one tomorrow, even if it is not his own car which spins across the road.
Driving on Ireland's roads today is an exceedingly dangerous pastime, not least because of the 400,000-odd unqualified drivers thereupon, whether they be careering or dawdling. That the Government has delayed for eight months its commendable, if ham-fistedly introduced legislation on provisional licence -holders is indicative of our elected elite's fear of its own people, when the original peremptory and harsh measures would have proved its love.
The real question to ask is this: just how many people will be dead come June 30th, 2008 who would otherwise be alive had the Government had the guts to stick to its original plan? - Yours, etc,
WILLIAM LAMBTON, Moylough, Ballinasloe, Co Galway.