Sir, - Michael Noonan wants mandatory sentencing for "joyriders". So-called joyriding carries a relatively high mortality rate - and this often includes innocent bystanders. The "joyrider" usually has no plan to kill - neither does the "ordinary" driver on Ireland's roads. But the ordinary drivers in Ireland often have no licence to drive, lack basic driving skills, flagrantly ignore rules that make driving safer, but remain free to kill up to 500 times a year with little fear of punishment in many instances.
The "joyrider" wilfully drives dangerously and recklessly. Many ordinary drivers on our roads drive dangerously and recklessly every day. Does either group understand that their behaviour is likely to end in tragedy? Morally, the main distinction between the two groups is that the "joyriders" steal their lethal weapon. Statistically, the ordinary driver in Ireland kills far more people than the "joyrider".
No government in the past 20 years has made a significant impact on our driving, our attitude to driving, or the way in which the police enforce the rules of driving. To introduce mandatory sentencing for the reckless driving we see every day (with an adequately resourced police traffic corps in place) would swamp Spike Island before the weekend. A politician honestly concerned about road safety would address the 500 deaths a year (almost double the mortality rate of the UK), and acknowledge that changes in legislation relating to licensing, changes in the training of young inexperienced drivers and actual enforcement of the rules of the road might just save a hundred or more lives a year. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN McCANN,
Lark Lane,
Liverpool,
England.