IT'S A disgrace that so many motorists flaunt the rules of the road and the limits the law places on drinking and drug-taking while driving.

P-platers, especially, are the most vulnerable to negative road statistics, despite their restrictions, exacerbated by their risk-taking behaviours and their false sense of invincibility.

Christmas holidays are the most deadly.

Families will be celebrating Christmas without loved ones present.

Yet the road toll continues to rise each year.

With drugs in the mix, crime on the increase, especially among the 18-30 age-groups, it defies belief that we have learnt nothing from the past.

Commonsense is not so common.

A driver's licence is not a licence to kill.

Mob mentality, over-stimulated competitiveness and peer pressure are often the causes of many fatalities and road misdemeanours.

To be driving cautiously, emotional intelligence must be in gear, with self-control and road sense paramount.

To some it isn't cool.

Because of the high cost of a licence, registration and the rising costs associated with owning a car, many drive without qualifications or experience.

Car-jacking by youths is escalating and dangerous. Weapons, especially knives and baseball bats, are weapons of choice for those desperate for your ride. The crime is opportunistic and unrelated to age.

Once again, the statistics for the holiday season to date, have exceeded last year's tallies. Partying and reckless living are the modus operandi of those who think the road is their own drag-strip.

Our Aussie drinking culture normalising alcohol and now drug-taking and bingeing, without thought of consequences, contributes to the premature deaths of many innocents in the way of these morons.

No amount of warning from the law and governments gets through to some.

Will they be here in 2017?

E. ROWE,

Marcoola