Taking our life in our hands

By Aine

I was appalled to read of the deaths last Saturday of two local young people, killed in a road traffic accident. Appalled but not surprised. You see I was on the same road very early last Saturday morning and the road conditions were horrendous. Thick, dense fog and drizzly rain made for hazardous driving conditions. To my amazement though there were people driving their cars with NO lights at all on…..never mind their fog lights. (Irish people seem to have a problem finding the fog lights on their cars.)

Time and time again I came up behind cars with no lights on, making their visibility almost impossible. But they were tipping along completely oblivious to the danger they were causing to themselves and other motorists.

Even had there been no fog or rain you still needed your lights on as it was 7.30am and dark and overcast.

I do a fair bit of driving around the country and am always astounded by the driving habits of other road users.

Again last Saturday, I was overtaking a car that was turning left when a lady, engrossed in conversation on her hand-held mobile phone pulled out in front of me. She was completely distracted, and although I believe she DID see me she pulled out without thinking. Two weeks ago I was driving through Mount Lucas in Offaly and I got caught behind a lady who was driving very slowly and straddling the white line. She too was in deep conversation on her (again) hand held mobile phone. Then I noticed the Garda car immediately behind me. It contained THREE members of our finest boys in blue.

The lady on the mobile must have noticed the squad car too and eventually pulled onto the hard shoulder, all the time chatting away. I was AMAZED to see the Garda car drive past without stopping her!!!

I am completely confident in my driving abilities. I have been driving for thirty-two years accident free, thank God. My big fear is not with my own capabilities but of who I am going to meet as I sit into my car for a journey.

A huge proportion of this country are taking anti-depressants and sleeping tablets. This has to affect their ability as a driver. Yet while drink-driving is the focus for the Gardai, do you know anybody that has been stopped for drug-driving. Never mind illegal drugs……. A lot of medication carries the warning “may cause drowsiness” so it’s a no-brainer then that you should not drive under the influence.

What about the truck drivers who are under pressure to get to the port or make a delivery on time and have been driving for twenty hours without a break? What about OAP’s whose vision or hearing is impaired but they still continue to drive?What about boy (and girl) racers who think they are invincible, come up behind you at speed, flash at you to get out of their way? What about tractors and other farm machinery that drive along our roads at night with not a light in the world?

You take your life in your hands every day in this country when you drive on our roads. All you need is to meet one of the above to make it the day you leave to meet your maker.