FURTHER to the letters of both J M Lowe and E Potter, and in response to Cllr Harkin.

I object to being labelled a "jack the lad motorist" just because I don't drive an ordinary car and dare to have an opinion. In fact, I am totally in favour of improving road safety.

Yes, there are many dangerous and stupid drivers on our roads, though the poor driving of many people is borne out of frustration with the way in which our roads are now managed.

I do, however, feel that it is unfair to merely target the motorist -- the pedestrian is, in many cases, just as much to blame. As a person who has spent most of his adult life driving, whether for work or fun, I have seen many stupid acts. Gangs of kids, not playing out, as we used to, but just standing around in the street. When I approach in the car, they don't move, they just stare at me as if to say "what are you doing driving on this road? I want to stand here"; people (and not just kids) on bicycles riding on the pavement, riding on the wrong side of the road, cutting in front of moving traffic, and riding at night without lights.

The first step to reducing the accident figures is to educate, and from an early age. Whatever happened to all the road safety campaigns from when I was a youngster? People will walk right past a proper crossing to try and cross five yards down the road.

Secondary to education, there are places where something physical needs to be done at sites with a known history of accidents or sites that show a definite likelihood of problems. Here in Little Lever there are four schools, one of which is situated on a bad bend and has a lot of peak-time traffic, yet nothing has ever been done. Also here in Little Lever, there is one area where the residents have asked for traffic calming and were turned down.

Surely if you are serious about saving lives, especially those of children, then these are the types of places to be spending money on! Unless, of course, Cllr Harkin has already joined the ranks of the anti-motorist politicians.

He ought to listen the people who elected him to the position he is now in, and whose interests he is supposed to serve -- Joe Public!

Eddie Dicker

York Avenue

Little Lever

Bolton