Feargal Quinn (Independent)

Next year the French presidential elections will be held. One candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, has emerged as a favourite because as Minister for the Interior he took a zero tolerance approach to breaches of road safety. This is a lesson for those who wish to win elections. To be able to reduce deaths on the road is in the hands of the Government. The Minister has commented on the large number of suggestions from the Road Safety Authority. It is up to us to support the Minister in this regard.

A large number of deaths of young people on our roads occur after hours. The insurance companies could issue a policy to a young driver on condition it expires at 10 o'clock in the evening. This will only work if cars caught without insurance are impounded. Families would certainly not allow young family members to use the family car if they knew it was not insured after a certain hour. This is not necessarily in the hands of the Government but the insurance companies.

A large number of young people have a different attitude to drinking and driving than our generation. I am impressed Mr. Sarkozy's reward is due to tackling road safety and reducing road deaths when he had the power to do so.