Since the horrendous head-on collisions that have resulted in several deaths and many more injuries, almost all the attention has focused on the role social media is playing in this horrible phenomenon. The teenage boys who speed up motorways the wrong way do so partly to attract clicks to their social media accounts. But this week, Simon Harris pointed in an unusual and unexpected direction. He said part of the blame for the carnage must be laid at the door of “a breakdown in respect for authority”.

He did not elaborate on what has caused this breakdown, or who might be responsible. Has he thought about who has been attacking the whole idea of authority for decades in the name of ‘freedom’. The finger of blame can hardly at social conservatives, the main defenders of authority in society, the very people liberals have attacked for years precisely because they defend authority, the very people laughed to scorn for saying things like ‘no-one has any respect anymore’.

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