What is the cause and what is the remedy? The cause, as I see it, is the lack of education and the remedy is education. Driving tests are providing an admirable check but more is needed for young drivers. That extra responsibility should lie with our schools. Take the example of the United States where driving at 16 years is the norm. While there in January, I visited schools where driving instruction is a compulsory credit course for all students. We are ideally set up to follow this example given the structure of our secondary schools with what amounts to a gap year between junior and senior cycles. A compulsory driving module should be built into all transition year courses with driving regarded as an essential life skill. If young people were to finish transition year equipped with theoretical and practical driving skills allied to a certain degree of car maintenance knowledge, the profile of our young drivers would change. Safety standards would rise and, dare I say, our insurance companies might even court their business. Age is not necessarily the problem but mature and responsible attitudes to driving need to be fostered. A systematic approach to the quality and experience of young drivers must be put in place.