MAY I pass on the top ten tips from the majority of Bolton road users. It seems few drivers, but I must stress only a few, have not quite come to terms with road usage in the new millennium.

1. Try not to wear out your indicators, use them sparingly to other road users and never to pedestrians.

2. Whenever looking for an address or parking space, drive as slowly as possible, ignore all other road users and always remember tip number one.

3. When confronted by double yellow lines at your preferred parking place, ignore and straddle lines, parking vehicle with two wheels on the pavement.

4. Whenever you have made an error of judgment and this is brought to your attention by another driver, under no circumstances apologise! Instead, hurl abuse and make rude gestures to this person, whether young or old, male or female.

5. On entry to any supermarket car park, safety, good manners and any and all road rules must be ignored immediately.

6. Speed limits only apply if you're not in a hurry.

7. Regardless of time, day or night, always sound your horn when picking up or dropping off friends. And if you sit talking outside someone's house for any length of time, especially late at night, always keep the engine running, remembering to rev the engine now and again to keep it warm.

8. When visiting friends' houses, never park in front of their house. If you're causing any sort of inconvenience to anyone (blocking a drive, restricting access for a disabled person etc.) they will always be able to find you with a little determination.

9. Use of mobile phones and/or snacking at the wheel of a moving vehicle is the sign of a multi-talented person, and people who have accidents while engaged in these pursuits are incompetents who have had insufficient practice!

10. Anyone who tries to prevent you and your vehicle doing whatever you want to, whenever you want to do it, is just being a nuisance. This includes police, traffic wardens and car park attendants. These people are impinging on your civil liberties and are bullies and criminals. Therefore any traffic offence you are convicted of should not be deemed a criminal act and should not be included as such on job applications or any other documentation requiring you to include criminal behaviour.

I trust the above will bring the small remainder of Bolton road users up to date with the current mindset. No one would like to be left behind now would they? .... Well, would they?

Tom Dewhurst

Bradford Park Drive,

Haulgh, Bolton.