IT is pleasing to read that accidents on St Peter's Way have fallen.
However, does the report indicate which of the measures taken to reduce accidents has been specifically responsible for the reduction?
It follows that if cyclists are banned from the road, there will be no injuries to cyclists. And if pedestrians are prevented access by fences, fewer of them will be injured. But can we say that St Peter's Way is intrinsically a safer place?
My experience when driving along the road, is that many drivers accelerate between the speed traps and indulge in the hostile practices common on most roads today, such as tail-gating.
Without analysis of traffic accidents which links cause and effect, we shall see measures designed to prevent them based on blind faith, or hope, or sheet bloody-mindedness, in which "theory" precedes or precludes empirical evidence. Pointless slogans such as "speed kills", cynical measures such as speed cameras, and negative installations in the form of speed bumps will persist.
The greatest cause of road accidents is careless or irresponsible behaviour, be it from pedestrians, cyclists or automobiles. Without changes in behaviour, road accidents will continue to be high.
Mr John Turner
Stonesteads Way
Bromley Cross, Bolton
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