31 July 2001: Former international rally champion Rosemary Smith has renewed her call for the Government to get involved with young driver training, by asking for support for a plan to provide a dedicated driving training centre just outside Dublin.

"We're allowing young people out in 'coffins on wheels'," she said in a comment on the carnage on the roads last week. "There are thousands of young people out there on the roads with no training at all, and there is in fact nowhere in the country where they CAN be trained in dealing with unexpected bad situations such as a serious skid."

Rosemary has researched such centres throughout Europe, and has been lobbying various Government departments to support the plan, for which she has already located a site in Co Meath and a significant level of private financial support.

"But this is something which everybody must be involved in, particularly the State and the gardai," she says. "And we must also have enforcement on the roads against existing bad driving. We need everyone to come together on this." BB