Death at the wheel

Driving a car is one of the most responsible acts most people will ever carry out. Every time they get behind the wheel, they accept responsibility for themselves, their passengers and others on the road. Interior Minister Stanislav Gross indicated recently on F1 radio that not all Czech drivers take this responsibility seriously. What's happening on Czech roads is bad, he said, and he wants to strengthen the powers of the police to take action against drivers. So far, Czech courts have gone lightly on drivers who cause deaths, and President Havel pardoned a driver in 1994 (cyclist Radomír Šimůnek) who killed three people. The revelation today in Právo that presidential candidate Otakar Motejl killed a pedestrian in 1978 and was given a suspended sentence for manslaughter will be a test of how Czechs view the responsibility of driving.