"Boy Racer" Crackdown

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GARDAI are to launch a major crackdown on boy racers and will prosecute owners of cars fitted with loud engines and excessively tinted windows.

Yesterday, senior officers warned owners of modified cars they have until the end of the year to comply with regulations or face fines of up to €2,500 and/or three months in prison.

Gardai will use a special machine -- a Glass Tint Meter -- to measure the amount of natural light coming into cars which must be at least 75pc for windscreens and 70pc for the rest of the car windows. They will also use a machine to measure the level of engine noise.

The warning came on the same day that the Road Safety Authority (RSA) launched its 'He Drives, She Dies' campaign, which calls on women not to get into a car with males who drive dangerously.

Road casualty statistics from the RSA show that over two-thirds (67pc) of female passengers killed in the 10-year period 1998 to 2007 were being driven by a male driver.

Boy racers are notorious for driving souped-up cars with loud exhausts and blacked-out windows and are a source of intimidation for other road users.

Owners are generally young men, who comprise most victims in fatal road collisions.

By law, the maximum engine noise allowed is 80 decibels -- which equates to the noise in a busy street -- with sounds louder than this level considered dangerous to hearing. Windscreen and passenger and driver doors cannot be blackened.

The Sound Level Meters and Glass Tint Meters will measure the amount of noise generated by engines and check if windows are excessively tinted. The crackdown is expected to begin by the end of the year.

"There's the issue of complaints and their own safety," Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock said. "They'll (boy racers) have the opportunity to rectify their cars. It's not in our interest to take people to court, but we will if necessary."

Gardai have also sought machines for reading digital tachograph machines installed on trucks which measure the number of hours driven. This will allow them to prosecute drivers found to be breaking the law by driving excessive number of hours. Fines of up to €2,500 and/or three months' imprisonment can be imposed.


Dangerously

Yesterday, Rose of Tralee Aoife Kelly launched the RSA's 'He Drives, She Dies' campaign, which calls on women not to get into a car with males who drive dangerously.

An occupational therapist at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Ms Kelly helps people overcome serious spinal and brain injuries sustained in car crashes.

"Ladies, you need to take a stand and not get into a car with a guy with a need for speed and a blatant disregard for his own and other people's right to life. It's a simple choice -- live or die," she said.

"Reckless driving is not impressive and people do not realise the consequences of such crazy behaviour until they attend a funeral of a family member, best friend, or a lost loved one. It's time we woke up to the reality of the situation. People die, not to mention the many people who are admitted to hospital daily with serious injury, some with little or no memory, who are unable to live a normal life."

RSA chief executive Noel Brett added that males were "massively over-represented" as the drivers involved in crashes, accounting for 80pc of all motorists in fatal collisions.