Letter: More controls for a dangerous weapon

Sir: It is indeed sad that road fatalities should ever be considered a 'socially acceptable form of death' ('Just another week on the roads - 79 dead', 22 December). A great number of accidents on the roads could surely be avoided, but, as suggested, this relies largely on changing the attitudes of drivers. The driving culture, as it is, is unlikely to be greatly altered by safety campaigns and so on, when, as Walter Girvin indicates, many believe themselves hard done by if booked for speeding.

Just as attitudes to drinking and driving have changed in recent years, so surely can attitudes to excessive speed. Alan Wolinski suggests that cars should be fitted with devices to prevent them from exceeding certain speeds and, although described as 'radical', I cannot see that this should not be considered a real possibility. After all, do we need to have cars capable of speeds of, say, 120mph in a country with a national speed limit of 70mph?

Yours faithfully,

JOHN CHALLIS

Bradford,

West Yorkshire

22 December