Road safety - An awful lot left to do

AS last week’s tragedy in Donegal showed, Irish roads can be very dangerous places. They can be even more dangerous if some road users behave in a way that puts themselves and others in great danger.

The Irish are not unique in this and yesterday the European Commission announced that it is looking at fitting aircraft-style “black boxes” in cars and lorries in an effort to make roads safer. About 100 people a day die on Europe’s roads.

We have, despite occasional setbacks, made considerable progress in this area but that does not mean that we cannot make more. Some of the things we might consider are experience-based speed limits, daylight-only driving for learner drivers and driving bans for recidivist speed offenders. It would make sense too if the Garda computer system was capable of collating the points assigned to errant drivers.