Serious action is needed to make our roads safer

Readers write about road safety, Brazilian meat and a dog rescuer

Readers applaud the new law that requires all car passengers to wear seat belts. Allen Donikowski

I refer to your article on yet more carnage on the roads caused by young people who cannot handle the powerful cars they insist on driving (Reckless driving in UAE causing 'unprecedented' number of brain injuries, doctors say, March 25).

More human lives wasted and yet more hand-wringing will not stop this culture of having to have cars that are beyond the driver’s capabilities.

Nothing will change unless radical measures are introduced to curb reckless driving. This has to be done for the safety of all the rest of us on the roads.

I have some suggestions:

Male drivers under 25 should be banned from owning or driving a vehicle over 2000cc engine size.

Restrict car loans from banks to drivers over 25, or limit the amount that young people can borrow. This way, young people would have to pay cash or buy cheaper, less powerful vehicles.

Make it illegal for workshops to modify vehicles for drivers under the age of 25 to make the vehicles faster. Otherwise, raise insurance premiums for young drivers until it becomes an extremely expensive prospect to own or drive one of these vehicles.

Implement compulsory visits to the traumatic injury wards of hospitals for all male students at secondary schools.

Initiate driver education classes for all secondary school students.

Liz Jones, Abu Dhabi

Congratulations on the initiative described in Seatbelts to become compulsory for all in the UAE (March 23).

It is a great decision. We have had this law in Canada for 40 years and it has been proven that wearing seatbelts can save lives.

A Savard, Canada

Having campaigned in the UAE for five years, I am delighted to see a positive step regarding the use of seat belts.

Seat belts and age-appropriate car seats should be compulsory for all passengers including adults.

Always buckle up in the back – it could just save your life.

Lesley Cully, Dubai

In defence of Brazilian meat

Regarding the article Brazil meat scandal triggers inspections in Gulf (March 22), the Embassy of Brazil would like to clarify that the country's ministry of agriculture immediately inquired into the presumed malpractice and dismissed officers implicated in these investigations.

The Federal Inspection Service (SIF) is an internationally renowned institution that audits and inspects registered producers and has helped consolidate Brazil at the forefront of world exports of animal products for over 100 years.

SIF’s inspection and audit staff includes federal auditors and sanitary inspection agents. There are ante- and post-mortem inspections of animals for slaughter, official checks of self-monitoring by producers, hygienic conditions, laboratory analysis and sanitary certification.

Brazil has a staff of 11,000 employees performing such tasks. Out of those, 33 are presumed to be involved with irregularities. Out of 4,837 registered producers, 21 are under investigation. That amounts to 99.8 per cent of producers and 99.7 per cent of inspection staff not involved in accusations of wrongdoing. Statistical data unequivocally show that occurrences of malpractice are and should be treated as individual cases.

In 2016, 852,000 animal product lots were dispatched from Brazil to international markets, with only 184 international notifications received on grounds of non-compliance to physical, chemical and bacteriological standards in products exported to 15 countries. Brazilian exports thus presented a 99.98 per cent conformity rate, demonstrating the incidence of violations to be, in fact, minimal.

Paulo Cesar Meira de Vasconcellos, Ambassador of Brazil

Dog’s rescuer is a true hero

How heart-warming to read about Kevin, who found an abused dog cowering at Yas beach (

Kevin took the dog in, paid for a vet and will now offer her a permanent, loving home of safety and dignity. Such heroes stand against the ranks of animal abusers and should be rewarded in every way possible.

Jane Wilks, Abu Dhabi

Sermon has a message for all

Thank you for publishing the Friday sermon, Marriage is based on love, compassion and tolerance (March 24).

The sermon should be put in free magazines in shopping malls to allow everyone to read it. This would be valuable to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Name withheld by request