Sir, – The newly installed average-speed cameras will help a little in reducing speeds, but the main cause of "accidents" on our roads is still because of that most dangerous component in a car: the person behind the wheel ("Speed-over-distance cameras to go live on stretch of M7", News, April 25th).
If the driver had put more thought into how they were driving, observing the current road conditions and what was happening outside the car, it is likely the “accident” may never have occurred.
It is driver training, or rather lack of driver training, in the psychology of safe driving, and the consequent lack of understanding of how to drive safely in different scenarios, weather, density of traffic, on poor roads, etc, and a lack of attention (staying off the phone, etc), which cause most crashes.
Learner drivers need to be taught about observation and the importance of recognising changed driving conditions and the hazards they may represent.
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The type of training which can be done in a classroom, with one instructor and many learner drivers.
Better driver training would result in fewer avoidable incidents. – Yours, etc,
DAVID DORAN,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.
Sir, – I agree with Kevin McLoughlin's comments (Letters, April 27th) but would insert the word "most" in front of "People have always considered excessive speed unacceptable..." because I see drivers breaking 30, 50 and 60 km/h limits every day.
Maybe these new speed-over-distance cameras will be installed on all roads in the future but in the meantime can we not have more radar speed-limit signs on our local and often dangerous roads? Surely some techie could devise a way to link these to the National Driver Licence Service which would issue one or two warnings before adding points to the licence? – Yours, etc,
JOAN REIDY,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Kevin McLoughlin writes , on road speed, that “arriving at a destination as quickly as possible is less important than staying within the speed limit”.
True indeed. Some years ago, Tom (not me), a South Kerry man, arrived late at a meeting in North Kerry. Some of the attendees were ribbing him about being late. He replied, “Isn’t it better to talk about Tom being late than about the late Tom?” – Yours, etc,
TOM HORGAN,
Waterville,
Co Kerry.