However, it doesn’t explain why there are still so many fatalities in the North due to speeding.

And every now and again, just so the statistics don’t look too bad, they hold an amnesty, and anyone who has a provisional licence is granted a full licence without even doing the test!

The standard of driving in this country is appalling. The government can’t complain about the carnage, because they are the ones who are allowing untrained, inexperienced drivers run riot on our roads.

I sent one of mine onto a ‘defensive driving’ course 1 year after she got her license . . . they taught her how to do 360′s and hand brakey’s. Not quite what I had in mind.

The EU has an area less than one-half of the US (not sure how it compares with just the lower 48) and has a population of 456 m as against 298 m in the US. We are competing all the time for space!

Twice a year we drive the 1,200 miles from Pennsylvania to Florida.
It takes us two 10 hour days at an average of 60 MPH. (We do take rest stops) We travel on Interstate Highway 95,one of the busiest roads in the country.
Believe me, we average 60 but must usually drive between 70 and 75 to keep up with the rest of the traffic. It is like being on an out of control roller coaster!
Every type of vehicle is on that road barreling along. Giant new car carriers with 6 to 10 cars strapped down with chains, huge recreational vans , trailer trucks in all sorts of condition, throwing large pieces of retread tires all over the road, huge pick up trucks towing boats, and don’t forget , weaving in and out of this mess, you have the ever popular BMW guy trying to do 90 and beat the red Mustang who is challenging him for the lead.
Grandad, after a few hours of this you find yourself promising God anything in exchange for your life.

I agree with you about the testing. I have a friend who failed the only test he took in the early-80s, but got a full licence when they had a backlog of applications and handed out licences. He moved North and swapped his licence for a full Northern one; he is a truly awful driver and drives an Audi A6.

Niall,

We travelled from Lille in northern France to Zell am See in Austria in a day two years ago – 650 miles, most of it on the German A8. There is a culture of safety, if the flashing sign says 80 kmh, it is for a reason and they all slow to 80 kmh. If trucks exceed the speed they are alllowed on a particulars stretch there are suddenly blue flashing lights and polizei. Have you ever seen a truck here stopped for anything? I read that in the UK they account for 2.5% of vehicles, but are involved in 30% of accidents.

Have you seen the facilities the AutoBahn has? A manager at a previous company I worked for (German owned) crashed at very high speed on the Autobahn. He was in hospital for months after with collapsed lungs, lots of broken bones and who knows what else.

He maintains that the only reason he’s alive is that there was a Helicopter at the crash site in under 5 minutes with full paramedics and all the facilities they needed. Try getting an Ambulance in Ireland within 5 minutes. Even if you crash outside an Ambulance Depot, you could still be waiting.

I read last year (in some one of the tabloids, but still) that an ambulance in Dublin had a speed limiter installed that limited it to 50mph. This on a vehicle that we actually *WANT* to speed! Can’t find a link to confirm this, but will look this evening.

I’ve said my piece on the issue a while back, and it would only put me in a bad frame of mind to repeat that.

But do you know what their testing regime is like? I have always argued that speed is not the killer; it is the standard of driving. A driver can speed if the situation allows for it, and if the driver is experienced at anticipation. Look at the police driving schools where they are taught how to drive safely at high speed, even through built up areas.

In this country, people fail in the test and then legally they are allowed to drive.