Road deaths - Non-national road safety a major issue

AMID the attention to the carnage on our roads, much more consideration should be given to the growing phenomenon of serious road accidents involving foreign nationals, especially driving left-hand drive cars.

It can be extremely hazardous for such drivers passing a large vehicle on our narrow secondary roads, because the drivers have to pull out so far before they can get a proper view of the road and any possible oncoming traffic.

Special consideration must be afforded to reasons for the high number of foreign drivers involved in road accidents.

Deputy Noel O’Flynn, a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, has noted that around 25% of the people killed in road accidents in this country are foreign nationals. Already this year, there have been 19 more deaths on our roads than at the same time last year.

Mr O’Flynn has called for foreign drivers to face rules tests in this country. Some 18% of those already caught for penalty points are foreign nationals.

We should welcome the great level of cultural diversity contributed by those from abroad who have availed of the opportunity of working in this country.

We already had our own culture of youthful recklessness on our roads. But it should be stamped out, not made worse by a new breed of dangerous abandon.