New Zealand police fewer and more visible
New Zealand has a population almost exactly the same as that of the Irish Republic - just short of four million - and a road system on almost the same scale - 92,000 kilometres - but it has a landmass almost four times that of Ireland.
I have recently returned from a 10-week visit to that country during which time I drove about 8,000km on both North and South Islands.
I was amazed at the high visibility of the police and I am not exaggerating when I say one would see a squad car every 20 to 30 kilometres.
Virtually no one breaks the speed limit (62mph or less) because there is a very high possibility of picking up penalty points and losing one’s driving licence. Random breath-testing is frequent - I was tested twice in my time there, both times during the day.
Significant progress has been made in reducing road deaths - from 514 in 1996 to 404 in 2002.
New Zealand does not have a dedicated road traffic corps. Despite this, it has a police force numbering 7,000 compared with our force of almost 12,000.
Mr McDowell should ask himself if we have 5,000 gardaí too many.
Richard K Mansfield
Woodlands
Green Hill
Fermoy
Co Cork
