I AM firmly convinced that many youngsters achieve their driving "skills" at the controls of some computer game where aggressive behaviour earns game points and crashes don't cause anything worse than ending the game and losing points.

It is encouraging to see someone like former "joyrider" Alex McIntosh adding his support to your worthwhile safety awareness campaign (Boys will be boys, and can easily be tempted, especially with peer pressure, The Press, April 2).

Certainly shock tactics need to be applied, probably the more horrendous the better, but I feel that a similar message should be aimed at parents who drive. They may need to improve their own standard of driving and set a better example of responsibility at the wheel. They can always do this with a course of guidance from the Institute of Advance Motorists, who have a group in most cities in the UK.

Perhaps the authorities should also insist that youngsters, on reaching the appropriate age, should be enrolled for a course of professional driving tuition and not taught to drive by parents or siblings who only pass on their own bad driving habits.

And finally, car owners should, as Alex McIntosh says, keep their car keys secure so as not to provide temptation. This in itself can ensure that lives are not needlessly lost because someone gained access to a powerful weapon.

After all, you wouldn't leave the keys to the gun cabinet on the hall stand, would you?

A Dobinson, Askham Lane, Acomb, York.