The Irish Examiner reported Monday that there have
been 63 lives lost in the 63 days so-far of of 2008, our story on
drivers’ behaviour on a road near this college is just another of
many indicators that making Irish roads safe is little more then
something we would like to do, but it’s just too much effort for
most. A statement last year from the Union of Students in Ireland (USI)
shows the typical mentally in Ireland.

“The imposition of a tougher licensing regime on younger drivers
is designed to address road safety concerns. USI welcomes the fact that
the Government is determined to lower the number of accidents caused by
inexperienced drivers,” said Peadar Hayes, the USI welfare officer.
“But younger drivers are often quite dependent on their cars, and
that is often by necessity.” Simply put, the union welcomes ways of
stopping deaths, but not at the apparently extreme cost of
inconveniencing students.

The union said the emphasis on improving road safety must be matched
by “wholesale” public on transport improvements… Is there another
way of reading this besides ‘no safety without public transport’?

And it gets worse, the now USI president, Hamid Khodabakhshi, said:
“Protecting people’s mobility, safety, and the environment: these
three watchwords must inform improvements to licensing and testing, but
also improvements to public transport,”

Watchwords, more like buzzwords. What kind of nonsense is this? More people driving is good for the environment?