D Tuesday, January 12, 2010 mail 17 Thar she blows: The Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador spews molten rock and large clouds of gas and ash, 178km (110 miles) south of the capital, Quito Picture: Reuters The Big Picture Give drivers an NCT These are real road hogs... Lynda B, youre obviously one of the road hogs I referred to in my letter! If you bother to read the rules of the road, youll see that outside lanes on motorways are for overtaking, making a right turn a short distance ahead and for driving up to the speed limits when conditions allow. Stay in the left lane if you need to drive so slow and stop causing a wilful obstruction! Also, I made no mention of driving on the hard shoulder as thats illegal your comment reveals your ignorance of the rules of the road. Speed isnt the only reason people die in car crashes, poor driving skills and bad road design are major factors, and it is the Government which is responsible for that. Driving should be continually assessed. Cars must pass an NCT regularly yet it is assumed the driver only needs to pass a test once. Thousands of drivers in Ireland didnt even have to pass a test to get their licence and no doubt went on to teach their children all of their bad habits. We will continue to have more road deaths because many drivers hold a full driving licence yet have no idea how to drive. Driving slow doesnt make you a good driver, its not as simple as that. Darren R Ste H, keeping us safe doesnt need to involve bombarding the body with particles that inhibit gene expression and cause bubbles in the double helix structure. Dublins best-read letters page Metro Mail E-mail letters to mail@metroherald.ie with a name. Or text us. Text MAIL followed by comment and name to 53131. *Texts cost 30cent per message + standard network charges. SP. Opera Telecom, Hospitality House, Cumberland Street South, D2. Customer service number 0818286606 talk to us Priorities? In 1845, landlordism destroyed Ireland. In 2008, a bad debt collection agency for landlords Nama did it again. Property interests ber alles, ok? Joe Doe Och aye: Mr Cranky, being Scottish, I can reassure you that a small body of water like the Irish Sea does not constitute a vast variation of weather conditions! Its no colder there than it is here throughout the year, but it certainly was drier in Scotland last year, silly man! Stougher Harder: Mr Cranky, you would think it is closer to Scottish weather here the way people moan about it, except in Scotland, its colder and they can handle it! Mr B Eureka: Following on from the debate about naming the next decade, this year should be known as twenty ten. A hundred years ago it was nineteen ten. Whatever you call it, this year is the tenth year of the 21st century. So the first decade ends on December 31 this year. We had the same nonsense ten years ago. John Wynne, London True: Lynda B, its not speed that kills, its the sudden impact... JT In Brief As DNA is self-replicating, it is not something that you can go back and fix after it is damaged. The previous security checks I have gone through on several occasions at various airports were fine, we dont need expensive pieces of technology which are both open to abuse and unsafe! Jboy The cold snap has prompted plenty of tit-for-tat between climate-change evangelists and sceptics, trying to disprove each others theories. To most people it is silly to suggest, based on a few days of snow, that global warming is a lie. Records have been held for hundreds of years but climate change takes hundreds of thousands of years. Trying to justify either argument based on weather events is an act of misdirection! Can we please look rationally at our actions? Is it right to drain the planet of its fossil fuels? Is it right to waste energy, food and water? Whether we want to save the environment or save some money, we need to consume less. Andrew W Sendusyour txt Ste H, I would choose not to be violated no inverted commas required! What next, full cavity searches for everyone? As Sky News said, the scan wont make any difference anyway! Modest Woman Regarding the great swine flu hoax: so far there have been 4,521 cases in Ireland, including 22 deaths... Milo Are the people bellyaching about no road grit the same dudes who went ape when a mere 200 tax was to be levied on second and third properties to fund it? Kit Heres a thought, why cant we simply spray seawater on to the roads to stop them from icing up during freezing conditions? Any reason why this cant be done? Al So the dumb blonde stereotype is true? Well, as a natural blonde I find that it is the bottle blondes who seem to be the most intellectually challenged, and no prizes for guessing what colour they are underneath! Louise, Dublin txt MAIL to 53131* The best pictures are in Metro Herald index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html