‘Qualified’ drivers are the real road villains

YOUR report on L-drivers (April 26) made for interesting reading. Statistics show they are “responsible for almost one in five fatal crashes”– 18 out of 103 road deaths.

In other words, they are responsible for slightly less than one in five fatal crashes, while four out five are caused by qualified drivers. If we want to cut road deaths, maybe we should be focus on the qualified driver.

I agree with the Garda Assistant Commissioner Kevin Ludlow’s assessment that driving unaccompanied in the first six months with a learner permit should be a no-no. Experience is a vital part of road safety and obviously somebody starting out who is only just learning to control the vehicle lacks that.

But no fancy L-plates are really needed to distinguish more experienced learner drivers from other road-users. L-drivers try to respect the speed limits while qualified drivers drive up their tails impatiently. L-drivers try to use roundabouts correctly while everyone else treats them as a bend in the road. I know there have been one or two horrific accidents related to L-drivers that led to the call for greater regulation and clampdown, but there are four times as many qualified drivers causing accidents, according to the statistics, many of them just as terrible. Still, the Irish way seems to be to ignore facts and act according to anecdotal evidence.

Nick Folley

Ardcarrig

Carrigaline

Co Cork