Although the possibility of living a long and happy life nowadays is greater than ever bef

ore, every day we witness the incredible killing on the roads. Man versus the motorcar! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing.

It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality, which often undoubtedly brings out a man's very worst qualities. Normally quiet and pleasant people may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering wheel. They swear; they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-olds and utterly selfish. All their hidden frustrations, disappointments and jealousies seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.

The surprising thing is that society smiles on the motorist and seems to tolerate his behaviour. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; and the mass annual death becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten.

It is high time a world code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are extremely loose and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have a dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate.

Here are a few examples that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through annual tests for safety. Present drinking and driving laws should be made much stricter. Maximum and minimum speed limits should be imposed on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for manufacturers, as has been done in the U.S.A. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may sound terribly harsh. But remember: The world is for human beings, not motorcars.

The main idea of this passage is ______.

A．traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists

B．thousands of people the world over are killed each year

C．the laws of some countries about driving are too loose

D．stricter traffic laws should be made to prevent accidents