IN reply to recent letters on road safety.

I completely agree, pedestrians should stay on the pavement where it is safe, and motor vehicles on the road to allow the safety of pedestrians.

Unfortunately, the concept that most drivers are law-abiding is untrue, as many park their vehicles straddling the pavement, in many cases blocking normal pedestrian access for mothers with prams, children, the disabled and the elderly, who then have to walk on the road to continue their own journey.

An illustration of this can be seen in your picture on the Letters page of February 10, with the car on the pavement and on double yellow lines, forcing the bus to cross the centre line.

As a motorcyclist and driver myself, I still remember that vehicles are just a method for transport, and an intrusion on human beings and our society, and not the other way around.

If I am asked to go slower for the safety of others, then I have no concern about doing this. As an adult and a parent, I always remember that children and other adults will make mistakes near roads, as we all do from time to time. So I am willing to keep a slow speed to ensure their mistake is not their last. If others cannot do this, as many can not, then "sleeping policemen" are sometimes the only alternative.

Speed has increased at the same alarming rate as inconsiderate motorists and road users in general. If motorists cannot monitor themselves, then others must do it for them.

Mr G Martin

Redcar Road

Smithills, Bolton