ON the Letters Page (January 17) Cllr G Harkin gives his reason for the so-called "traffic calming measures".

The photograph of a bus travelling along what appears to be Montserrat Road titled "Bus negotiates road hump" would have been better called "Bus negotiates between (illegally?) parked vehicles". All four vehicles appear to be parked on double yellow lines.

When I first started using motorised (as opposed to pedal) power, first with motor-cycles, then cars, obtaining my driving licence over 50 years ago, we were taught that one of the most hazardous situations facing a driver was passing a parked car. The theory behind this being that a child could so easily step out from behind one into your path.

Every housing estate, such as Johnson Fold, and the one on which I live, are now nothing other than gigantic car parks, where the residents appear to demand, or are given, the right to park outside their house, with a complete disregard for the rights of others. Perhaps people in positions of power should use their influence to provide off-road parking and ensure that all motorists use it.

It has been said that, in politics, there are lies, damned lies, and there are statistics. Cllr Harkin is choosing the facts that suit his particular case. The statistics provided by Cllr Harkin are so blindingly obvious that citing them is little more than an insult to the collective intelligence of the electorate. The first priority must be to clear vehicles off the road when not in use, especially on a bus route.

In the same issue of the Bolton Evening News, in the motoring section we are presented with another statistic that is used as a cover-up for the cheap fix. I refer, to the one that says "one in seven road accident deaths are caused by alcohol". This, of course, leaves us with the obvious reply that "six out of seven roads accident deaths are nothing to do with the consumption of alcohol". Why don't the powers-that-be address that one?

Vehicles travelling meekly behind one another, at a speed that can be bettered by the average pedal-cyclist, is not the answer. 20mph on housing estates by all means, but not 30mph where it is perfectly safe to travel at 40mph.

F Isherwood

Latham Road

Blackrod, Bolton