Sir, – John FitzGerald’s thought-provoking article (“Young men take risks, but a lot less so than previously”, Business, Opinion, September 8th) points to the remarkable drop in road fatalities (129 to 19) in the 20 to 34 age group between 2007 and 2019. He put this down to a big decline in risk-taking behaviour on the road, especially by young men. He rightly suggests that proper research should be undertaken to understand what causes such risk-taking behaviour and what gave rise to the progress achieved between 2007 and 2019.
In addition to proper research and publication of the likely main cause of each accident, which is sorely lacking, encourage young drivers to be careful by offering them access to cheap insurance with a high excess payment if a claim arises. The cost to the State to underwrite such a scheme would encourage safer driving, less uninsured driving and be a better investment than large additional resources to monitor on-road behaviour. I note that in France, the speed limit on most departmental roads is being restored to 90km/h, having been reduced to 80km/h a few years ago. – Yours, etc,
NIALL PELLY Snr,
Foxrock,
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Dublin 18.
Sir, – Michael McAleer’s article on the proposed new speed limits is headlined “Planned changes useless without proper enforcement” (Opinion & Analysis, September 7th). It could be argued that they would be worse than useless, as they would join the many rules and regulations openly flouted by motorists. People break the rules because they know they can get away with it, and this leads to the normalisation of dangerous driving.
The technology is there to personalise bad driving and to bring the consequences directly to bear on the motorist. In-vehicle data recorders – akin to flight data recorders in aircraft – can help with automatic policing, including full surveillance of traffic offences. In this way they can have a positive influence on driver behaviour. In some jurisdictions, insurance companies insist that new drivers have these devices fitted to their cars, so that they can gauge driving behaviour and set the premium accordingly. Isn’t it time we started using smart technology to save lives? – Yours, etc,
MIKE NORRIS,
Dublin 18.
