I AM at a loss to understand why anyone would complain to the Institute of Advanced Motorists about private hire drivers, or indeed about anything else.

Every private hire car has instructions inside about making complaints, and also an identification plate on the outside. If anyone has a complaint, they should make it to the council or the police, not a pressure group like the I.A.M.

As for Mr Sammons' sweeping condemnation of private hire drivers, I would contend that, on a ratio of accidents to mileage driven, private hire drivers are amongst the safest on the roads.

I worked as a private hire driver in Bolton from 1982 until last April. During that time, I calculate that I drove more than 750,000 miles. I spent around 10 hours a day, six days a week, driving my cars, and I knew each one's width, length, stopping and acceleration in a way that only a professional driver could.

I would suggest that Mr Sammons and the I.A.M continue to try to educate the ordinary motorists, and leave a hardworking and already over-regulated group of people alone to try and earn a living.

D Dowsell, Bury Road, Bolton