COUNTY Limerick politician Richard O’Donoghue has told the Dáil that he does not agree with people coming into this country being able to hold their native driving licence for six months before they change it for an Irish licence.
The number of accidents on Irish roads, the Independent Ireland TD said, is getting higher. However, Deputy O’Donoghue insisted that he was not blaming all people coming into Ireland from abroad, but took the view that “when people come from another country, their driving pattern is very different”.
“I was in Rome recently. My God, I did not find one person on their phone but their driving behaviour was very different from the behaviour here. It was in and out, in and out. Not one person walked out in front of a car or truck saying, ‘Oh look at me, I am on my phone’ because they have personal responsibility,” he commented.
In Ireland, Deputy O’Donoghue told the Dáil, it has gone the other way around.
“There is no personal responsibility for a person walking or doing anything. You should be seen on the road. Everyone should have responsibility, whether they are driving a car, walking on the road or cycling.”
“Everyone has personal responsibility but they should take into account the different widths of the road so that we have a reasonable speed limit on them rather than having a blanket limit and then not even paying local authorities for the repair of the roads,” he concluded.