Calling out reckless Mayo motorists and their impact on road safety
Despite all of the warnings, extensive public awareness, better roads and the best of intentions, our public roads remain as dangerous as ever.
And the reason is abundantly obvious.
The highways and byways of Mayo and elsewhere are, to put it bluntly, overrun by too many reckless drivers who are willing to put their own and others people's lives at risk by the most outrageous decision making from behind the wheel.
This observer witnessed another two examples of this self-destructive driving streak within a short period of one another while making an after-dark journey between Claremorris and Castlebar.
The first one was particularly frightening.
A car emerged from behind an articulated truck and proceeded to overtake it without any consideration for approaching traffic or the truck driver.
It was, in fact, the intervention of the truck driver in slowing down when he spotted this moment of madness in his rear mirror that averted the prospect of the crazy motorist from colliding with an on-coming van, such was the short timespan between disaster and a lucky escape for everyone concerned.
It happened at the relatively new Healthlawn N60 route which cost several million euro to put in place, a fine piece of infrastructure but one which appears to have instilled a daft notion of invincibility, not to complete irresponsibility and, yes, criminal behaviour, in a certain section of the driving population.
And, remember, this is a route in which there are white lines in place for extended distances to prohibit overtaking, but this is largely ignored by some drivers.
The second incident, on the same roadway, involved a car with a so-called souped-up engine overtaking a line of cars at tremendous speed without fully considering the implications of their actions in the event of causing an accident.
There have been 125 people killed on Irish roads so far this year and while this writer is not suggesting they were all caused by reckless drivers, one suspects quite a number of them were, judging by the two experiences outlined.
Apart from the fatalities, many others were injured. In fact, 120 other road collisions have occurred across the nation between January 1 and September 26 last in which people did not lose their lives but left many with life-changing injuries.
Research undertaken in Ireland has revealed the main causes for reckless driving as aggression and emotion, distraction, peer pressure, disregard for laws, impairment (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs), fatigue and boredom.
The situation has become so serious that dramatic steps are required to rid our roads of recklessness.
And while NCT testing has been successful in removing unfit vehicles from our roads, then perhaps all holders of driving licences should be obliged to undergo a range of tests at regular intervals to determine whether or not they meet safe driving criteria.
It's worth considering.