I think that it was Mr McGimpsey who said that the best way of tackling these issues would be to have in place a local Assembly — I could not agree more. Alas, that is not possible at the moment because we cannot reach the stage where Sinn Féin can bring itself to support the agencies of law and order. That is surprising — or perhaps it is not. After all, that party could not bring itself to ask the people of west Belfast to co-operate with the police when a young woman was savagely raped. Even on an issue such as road safety, I have not heard one Sinn Féin Member say that it is a matter for the police. It is, although many other agencies also need to be involved.

That is why my colleague and I tabled the amendment. We want to lift the matter out of the political domain and out of politics altogether. It has nothing to do with politics. The message that has to go out loud and clear from this Assembly today is that we are united in our concern about road safety and the carnage that is happening on our roads. If the signs are anything to go by, that is not going to be the case. That is regrettable. I am sure that those who will vote against the amendment, when they go away and think it over, will conclude that they could have done better. However, I hope that they will stop and consider their ways.

I wish to bring some figures to the attention of the Assembly. While I do not want go through a long list of statistics, some are important to note. Of course, these are PSNI figures, and the fact that I mention the PSNI may run a cold sweat up some people’s backs. What a terrible thing to do in a democratic society. However, I will take that risk. The figures produced by the PSNI cover the period from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006. During that time, nearly 5,100 people were injured in road traffic collisions — a quite staggering figure, by any standards. That resulted in more than 8,377 casualties, of which 11% — 895 — were children under 16 years of age. It is important that the Assembly take cognisance of the significance of that statistic.

That brings me to the number of collisions. The figures show that they have dropped from 5,240 in 2004-05 to 5,098 in 2005-06. That represents a small but nevertheless welcome decrease of 2·7%.

We have a responsibility — though not exclusive — to consider young drivers, although that may not run with every Member. The issue of young drivers must be tackled in a way that will make a real impact on the carnage on our roads. It is not true to say that young drivers cause all accidents. However, figures show that a high percentage of young drivers are involved in road accidents. Do people of 17 or 18 years of age have adequate experience to drive a vehicle at 60 or 70 miles an hour? I strongly contend that they do not.

Furthermore, a driver with R plates should not be permitted to carry four passengers. A young person who passes a driving test and displays R plates on a car does not become an experienced driver the next day — only years of driving can only do that. The issue of R-plated drivers carrying four passengers in their cars must be considered. The Government — especially the DOE — have a responsibility to take a long, hard look at the driving test to see if it is adequate. Is it true that a young driver who passes his or her driving test and displays R plates for a year is an experienced diver? I do not believe that it is true. A year is not a long enough time to gain experience in any walk of life.

The volume of traffic on our roads has risen to such a level that our road infrastructure is now under threat and cannot cope adequately with the volume of vehicles, especially heavy goods vehicles. Freight transportation is important in my constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and the volume of heavy goods vehicles travelling from the west of the Province to the docks and elsewhere is increasing. Our economy is therefore heavily dependent on heavy goods vehicles, and that creates more tension and problems on the roads.

I heard that a Member narrowly avoided a serious accident while travelling to the Assembly this morning. A heavy goods vehicle pulled out into the centre of the carriageway and the tail of the vehicle was hanging over one of the lanes. The Member had to swerve round the heavy goods vehicle to prevent an accident. Such situations continually happen on our roads.

I appeal sincerely to Members who feel the need to score silly political points to desist from doing so. This is not an issue for scoring political points. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future for Members to score political points against their opponents, but they should not use this issue to do that. If the Assembly does not present a united voice on this issue, we will send the wrong message to the public. Our constituents — no matter who they are or where they are from — will not thank us for it.

In Margaret Ritchie’s contribution, she mentioned a visit that she had made to a mother who has lost someone near and dear to her. There are too many such homes across the Province. I do not think that that parent or anyone else in that home — no matter their political background — would thank the Assembly for doing a good job of merely highlighting the issue, not uniting on it.

I appeal for unity here today, in order to send a clear message to the Government, the Department of the Environment (DOE) and all those involved in road safety that we care.

I want to bring the attention of the Assembly to the Cool FM road safety roadshow, and to commend it for the work that it is doing. This powerful show brings together all the rescue agencies — the Ambulance Service, the Fire and Rescue Service, the medical service and the police — and travels to various schools and focal points. I commend it to the Assembly and to the general public of Northern Ireland. The show graphically illustrates the real issues of road safety and how important it is that everyone should treat the matter seriously.

My time is up; I commend the amendment to the House and ask for united support.