I WAS very interested reading the letters regarding speed humps. Unfortunately, it's a sad fact that some estates need speed humps simply because the residents that live on these estates request the council to put them on their roads, as they are sick and tired of speeding traffic.

The point I would like to bring to people's attention is that very few accidents involving cars are caused by speeding traffic, but usually by the casualty themselves, due to the ignorance of road safety.

I recently went to a meeting in Bolton and was astounded to find that, in a two-year period up to September, 2002, out of 268 road accidents, nobody was killed, 28 per cent were serious, and the rest minor. But what shocked me most was that very few of them were caused by a speeding car. I have to be honest -- when I saw these figures, I was shocked myself as I feel most other people would be.

The main issue that came from the meeting was that one of the biggest problems was that parents have to educate their children on how to cross the road. Also, our children must have places to go so they are not playing on the streets where they are vulnerable to traffic. Drivers should also be more aware when driving on estates that children are likely to run out into the road, so speed should be considered even though figures don't prove that speed is a problem.

I personally believe that speed humps are good on large housing estates, but firmly believe that educating our children, ourselves, and drivers, is the best way forward to stop accidents. And then maybe we could look at removing the humps when the figures come down.

David Kelly

Kearsley