Motorists breaking the law: ‘There is a word for them and it’s not hapless’

• I WAS interested to see the use of the word “hapless” when referring to motorists breaking the law, (It’s 1,000 traffic penalties a day, January 27).

In my dictionary, “hapless” means “deserving of pity” / “unlucky”. This language is symptomatic of the attitude society uses for drivers, in contrast with its attitude to others who break the law.

Can you imagine, for example, a shoplifter or a mugger being described as “hapless” or indeed almost any other type of lawbreaker?

Someone who chooses to drive a vehicle weighing well over a ton is capable of seriously injuring or even killing another person and is consequently and rightly subject to many laws.

If they choose to drive such a vehicle and choose to break the law then they are neither deserving of pity nor unlucky. There is a word for them and it’s not hapless.

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