Young male drivers' delusions make them dangerous, says Byrne

FOUR "DELUSIONS" shared by young male drivers made them the most "dangerous category" of people on roads, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA)chairman Gay Byrne.

The four delusions were immortality; invulnerability; a belief that bad things happened to other people; and that their driving skills matched that of Formula One drivers. He told an audience in NUI Galway yesterday that these delusions were shared by most young men aged between 17 and 26 years.

If he was the parent of young women socialising with such men, he would be "wagging the finger" to make sure they did not travel home with unfit drivers. However, ultimately improved safety and a reduction in deaths on the roads came down to politics, Mr Byrne said.

At an award ceremony to commemorate the late Donna Ferguson, an NUIG journalism student killed in a road collision in her native Co Fermanagh in December 2006, Mr Byrne expressed confidence that an announcement on a new blood alcohol limit for drivers would be made by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey "shortly".

An expert group set up by the RSA has recommended a new general limit of 50 mg per 100 millilitres of blood or urine, down from the current level of 80mg.

The Donna Ferguson award was presented to John Hogan, now working with the Limerick Leader, by Ms Ferguson's parents, Gerry and Mary, and her siblings, Serena, Paul and Seán.

Bernadette O'Sullivan, director of NUIG's Journalism course, paid tribute to the family for their support.

The annual journalism award is being funded over its first five years from the proceeds of a book written by a family friend of the Fergusons, Joe O'Loughlin, of Camlin Castle in Co Fermanagh.

Expressing his shock at the deaths of two young girls in east Galway yesterday, Mr Byrne said that 14 people had been killed on roads so far this month, compared to 34 in March 2007.

Two other young women remain in a critical condition in Temple Street and Crumlin hospitals in Dublin, following the crash in Kilrickle. Three other passengers in the people carrier are also still being treated for their injuries in hospital in Co Galway.

President Mary McAleese has expressed her condolences to the families of those involved.

Sympathies to the families and the wider Islamic community in Ireland were also conveyed yesterday by Fr Edward Stankard, parish priest of Cappataggle and Kilrickle.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times