Boy racers use city road as a drag strip

I WISH to express my concern about so-called boy racers and the hazard they pose to other road users and society in general.

I would suggest that these outdated, dangerous and noisy vehicles on our roads are no longer tolerable. I live on the Rochestown Road in Cork, an incredibly busy artery with entrances and exits to and from the South Link Road, which itself has very heavy traffic flows.

Day and night residents of this area must put up with the noise and speed of these imbeciles in their modified Honda Civics, Toyota Celicas, Nissan Skylines, etc, tearing up and down the road as if they were on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans.

This type of behaviour represents an intolerable danger to other road users and to pedestrians and joggers on the footpaths, not to mention the insufferable annoyance.

The South Link Road itself is often used as a drag strip by these individuals, and not once have I ever seen a garda presence to address this practice.

Why is nothing being done to remove this menace of the boy racer from our roads? Why are these cars even legal?

Why and how is it possible for these people to continue to get insurance? Why are these ridiculous, ear-shattering exhaust systems permitted? Why has the bureaucratic behemoth that is the EU imposed all kinds of safety restrictions on its citizens and yet these exhaust systems, which do nothing only guzzle fuel and pollute the surroundings with outlandish CO2 emissions, continue to proliferate?

Why are the gardaí not impounding these vehicles and crushing them, as is done in California? Why does the average motorist then continue to be a soft target for penalty points, insurance hikes, tax hikes, etc?

It is high time to tackle the presence of these dangerous drivers and vehicles on our roads. A first step might be the banning of after-market exhaust systems that do not comply with EU noise and emissions regulations. A further step might be to empower the gardaí to confiscate these vehicles.

It would also be wonderful if the abortive attempt at resurfacing the Rochestown Road could be completed to a satisfactory standard. We have the highest levels of road tax in the EU, notwithstanding the changes made to taxation levels in 2008. The majority of people are still paying high taxes on older cars. Where is the money going?

Jonathan O’Connor

Ronanye’s Court

Rochestown Road

Cork