Every now and then, you???ll read a letter or hear the comment in Perth that justice should be done "Singapore style".

Just recently, a motorcyclist was caught making a vulgar gesture with his finger to a speed camera.

He was doing a wheelie on his motorbike, and because motorcycles here do not have number plates on the front of their vehicles, he thought he couldn???t becaught.

He was caught, thanks to an outraged public and his own stupidity - he may not have had a licence plate at the front, but he has a face. His bike wasimpounded and he was fined.

Someone then wrote to the press calling for Perth to follow Singapore???s lead in placing number plates on the front and back of motorcycles.

Whether this will reduce the road toll is moot.

It???s disgusting there are people who have absolutely no regard for the law, or for human life.

My teenage son is talking about MX5s and 350Zs. I tell him he???ll be lucky if he gets two wheels and a set of pedals.

Why? Because the thought of him driving makes me ill at ease.

And it???s not just about speeding.

A real-life account from a friend: A 17-year-old girl who passed her driving test was told the same day by her father that if she ever drove after havinghad a few drinks, her car would be up for sale quicker than she could slur, "Where???s my key?"

She drank, she drove, Dad found out, and by the time she woke up the next morning, the car had been sold.

She had to wait at least six months before she was allowed to drive again.

That was years ago.

That girl is alive today, with children of her own. I bet that???s largely because she had a father who didn???t duck when the battle started.

She had apparently said that although half of her hated her father for what he did, the other half was secretly so very grateful.

Drink-driving is every parent???s worst nightmare.

Hang on, delete that.

It???s everyone???s worst nightmare.

Whether you???re the drink driver or you???re the victim of one, the toxic cocktail of clouded judgment and perceived invincibility adds up to one thing - tragedy.

I don???t know what the figures are for road fatalities in Singapore, but the death toll on roads in Western Australia from the start of the year till last Monday is 105. That???s 30 more than at the same time last year.

Not a day goes by here without reports of someone getting killed on the roads. My son turns 17 this month. Not old enough to get married. Not old enough tovote. But old enough to drive.

The one thing that can kill him, he???s old enough to do.

The group to watch out for on the roads is the P-platers, drivers who have just passed and are serving the mandatory one-year probationary period before beingawarded their full licences.

But the worst are drivers whose licences have been suspended, but who continue to drive and, if caught, are unrepentant.

Who???s to blame? I blame a justice system that, unlike the dad who sold his daughter???s car, is unable for whatever reason, to enforce its judgments.

The common complaint is that the law is too soft.

The authorities in Perth are trying, through a series of measures from double demerit points during public holidays to stiffer fines and penalties, to stemthe problem of reckless and dangerous driving.

There are sobering signboards bearing white crosses - each cross symbolises a life lost on that stretch of road.

There are "Driver Reviver" stations on long state highways at which motorists can stop for a stretch and a free cup of coffee.

But still, hooligans and bad drivers abound.

And as parents, as a road-user or pedestrian, we all can do our part to watch each other???s backs and help to report such motorists and troublemakers.