How can reckless teenage driving be prevented?

[UncleColm]

We had that terrible crash recently in the UK which resulted in 7 deaths - RIP to the two Police Officers who were on duty.

In Ireland we had a very similar crash the previous week where five boys died - aged 15 to 17. All were wearing balaclavas at the time of the crash and were 'well known' to Guards. The family they crashed into were three sisters and a seven year old son of one of the sisters (on the way to the airport go to a family wedding) - they are all still in hospital and are very seriously injured.

The previous week, in Ireland, a car carrying eight teenage boys aged from as young as 13 crashed into a car being driven in the correct direction by one young man who is now seriously injured.

The boys seem to be from a mix of poor areas and Travellers. In death they are being celebrated by their families but where were these families when they were alive? Who lets their teenage boy out all night? And let's them produce tiktoks of their 'exploits'? Parental supervision is clearly not in place.

How can this reckless driving behaviour be stopped?

In Ireland there is a huge shortage of jail spaces and places to detain a child under 18. These kids couldn't care less if the Guards catch them - sure what's another Juvenile Caution to them? One of the boys who died was supposed to stay in his own County but had ignored it. They have no fear of the Guards or the law.

I work in a school and there is a huge amount of help available to Traveller children in particular but they still tend to not engage with any after school activities, don't do homework, don't go on school trips, leave school early, high absence rate, etc.

I read recently that, in Ireland, 50% of Travellers don't live beyond 39. In 2026 this a shocking statistic. I don't know what the statistics are for the poor, disadvantaged areas but I do know that the taxpayers provide Social Housing, child benefit, medical cards, free education, free school books and hot lunches, back to school allowances and a whole other host of allowances. There are many initiatives available to help people to stay in education and gain independence.

What more can be done? Is there any way of reaching these young males?

Lock 'em up, second offence add on a year, third add on two years and so on.

Make sure there are plenty of youth offending/prison places, prioritise incarceration, keep them off the streets.

There seems to be plenty of money for converting army barracks for the boat people, so do the same for these repeat offenders. Get tough now. Round them up.

I know, I know I'm going for broke here, but I'm so fed up being a law abiding citizen who would have to go on a speed course/get points/lose my license if I break the limit/road traffic laws etc. But then again the ordinary citizen driver is like shooting fish in a barrell to the speed cams etc.

Through a combination of welfare reform and tough prison sentences, we need to make this feral, low-level wannabe gangster dickhead lifestyle impossible. Sadly, governments are too wet to do any of that, so it will get worse. You can bet that half of them were on benefits for their adhd, anxiety etc.

This has been happening for decades. Dh was telling me of a lad he grew up who stole a motorbike and ended up killing himself in a chase with the Gardaí, this would have been 30 years ago. I had a brief experience with some young lads who were in and out of Tuslas care, they robbed cars for fun on a Saturday night 25 years ago.

I think in Ireland given the horrors of the industrial schools perhaps there is reticence to lock young boys up. Ultimately the system is broken. Tusla doesn't work, Cahms doesn't work, the justice system doesn't work. I don't know the answers but this is a problem that has been brewing for years and years, I'm sure the people I briefly knew 20 years ago now have their own children tearing the place up.

No, it needs to start at the root cause.

These young men were already breaking the law, adding more laws for them to break is pointless.
Just build more prisons & YOI and bloody use them!

Problem is most of these cars are stolen and driving by people with no license or insurance anyway.

Penalising legal drivers won’t fix those problems.

We need more prisons and youth institutions. Less slap on the wrist more locking up.

Parents whose 13 year olds that are out at 3am causing or aiding crimes should frankly have their child removed into the care system maybe like a military boarding school.

I don’t believe there is an easy answer to this. Putting on more rules and regulations is not going to stop this, as usually the culprits don’t care about such things and are currently consistently breaking the associated laws, so they will just be breaking the new ones as well.

It can only be minimised by changing the upbringing of the cohort that do this, and there is no magic bullet for this aspect.

When the prisons are full and justice system overstretched to say the least there’s nothing anyone can do -but saying police must not chase these vehicles (which I sort of agree with ) means some young idiot can steal any car and rampage through a town killing and maiming innocent public and jump out the car and run away to do it again - no chance of arrested

Sounds sensible…but surely saying ‘men’ should just say ‘people’

The army doesn’t want them.

nor should they have to take them.

And the parents taken away and taught how to parent.

We need more prisons and youth institutions. Less slap on the wrist more locking up

That’s not really going to work either. You can’t keep them locked up indefinitely, and they will likely just cycle in and out of youth facilities and then prisons, and this is what they will get up to in the periods when they cycle out, and they won’t be too perturbed by getting caught and cycling back in.

One those 5 boys had previous for this according to the Manchester Evening News.

This is just going to hurt responsible young people and the feckless won't give a feck.

So if you are a 20 year old with a child you are just unlucky and won't be allowed to drive your own child? How about someone ferrying around their siblings? I've done a fair bit of that in my time.

I lived rurally and having a friend borrowing their parent's car meant the freedom to go to places like the cinema.

Well the current situation isn’t working either.

At least while inside they won’t be out nearly or actually killing innocent members of the public.

Peers are very different to carrying your own child. What do you suggest then?? Because this current situation cannot be allowed to continue!

Establish a penal colony somewhere and dump them there for good. Might seem harsh, but 100 of them are not worth the life of a decent copper.

I have to laugh at the suggestions of limiting passengers and other rules. Does anyone think these boys would observe that or any rule really, if they are prepared to put lives in danger including their own?

Forget about softly softly, these guys are hardened criminals and don't give a shit about authority or anyone else for that matter. Drink and drug taking is a big part of it.

Lock them up. Who cares if the door is revolving, at least for the time they are inside they are not a danger to anyone.

Bleeding hearts can go that way >>>>

I dont know how we can reverse the decline in respect for authority, its been slowly coming apart for the past 30+ years.
The breakdown of the traditional family.
Single motherhood. The lack of strong father figures. The acceptance of smoking weed/drugs. Generations of families on benefits.
Parents/teachers no longer permitted to discipline wayward children and put them back on the right track.
The lack of visible policing. Soft sentences meted out in courts.
The huge rise in ADHD. ( Never heard of it 20 years ago)
Add a generous splash of social media, give it a stir and this is the result

So every youth is able to just go haring around the county at 100mph and no intervention??

It's also impractical.

My daughter recently passed her test. She's 20. Her car has a 1 litre engine, she has insurance with a black box etc.

But she's going back to university 200 miles away in a few weeks and needs to take the car with her. I'll be going up with her as her passenger because she'd rather not do the journey alone for the first time.

Hilariously, I write to you from Australia🤣🤣🤣

ETA we have the same issue here.

Lefty Green's latest idea, ban the police from having tazers

Parental authority/respect for teachers & police/obedience with rules has to be ingrained ien people from an early age. By the time a child is old enough to stop wanting to please parents & has their own view on things, its too late.

Often the children & teens who break big rules (eg driving without license etc) see parents openly flout rules through their childhood - parking on double yellows, sneaking into places or without paying. The same parents often flout social rules so will tolerate homework being skipped, take term time holidays, let DC break school rules on uniform & hairstyles. All these things teach DC that if you dont like rules its ok to break them.

Something that doesn't penalise people who behave responsibly by placing heavy restrictions on them that the minority that it is meant to affect will disregard anyway!