IN response to road safety officer Ken Spence's letter (August 17), it is nice to see that at last someone at the council will admit to having their ears blocked when listening to the views of the electorate.

Some form of traffic control is necessary but those in York are now ridiculous, and in many cases dangerous.

I can only conclude that the council has made all out war on the motor car and has squandered vast amounts of our money in an attempt to eradicate them altogether.

In many cases road humps are totally unnecessary and cause more problems than they solve.

Many years ago in Gale Lane vehicles were allowed to park outside their own houses. The council decided this caused obstruction to traffic and painted yellow lines down both sides.

This allowed traffic to move freely and inevitably the speed rose alarmingly. The council then laid down lots of road humps, centre islands and even a mini roundabout to slow it down again.

If they had looked at the problem properly in the first place they could have put yellow lines in strategic places and used parked cars to slow traffic.

Most of the congestion now present in the city is caused by the council's measures. To listen to them bleating about the quality of air would be laughable if it wasn't serious.

I would like to know where Mr Spence gets his statistics from. How does he know that 30 fewer people have been casualties? Has he or anyone else in the council taken the trouble to find out how many more people suffer from respiratory problems as a result of their deliberate obstruction of traffic flow?

John Miller,

Driving examiner for the Institute of Advanced Motorists,

Hunters Close,

Dunnington, York.

...WHERE does Mr Spence get his figures from, out of thin air? Statistics no doubt, and we all know about those.

Years ago three pedestrians were killed crossing Bishopthorpe Road in separate incidents. Around the same period a person was also killed in Gale Lane.

Humps were placed in Gale Lane and thankfully no one has died there since. However no humps were placed in Bishopthorpe Road and yet no one has died since: perhaps these "magic humps" work by proxy?

Reports show that pollution is increased by the use of humps, so slowly we gas those living alongside such roads. Does he have any figures on the increase of respiratory illness?

The one certainty about humps is they damage vehicles, in particularly suspension.

We have all seen on the TV "worn shock absorbers kill" and that is certainly true. Vehicles with worn or defective shock absorbers are less stable and more liable to go out of control.

Worn shock absorbers also markedly increase vehicle stopping distances. So when the child runs out in front of you, you may have been travelling less than 30mph but the vehicle will not stop in a distance commensurate to that speed.

Moving to the subject of cyclists and junctions, no, Mr Spence, making these safer for cyclists is not lunacy but perhaps the method used could be?

What a move for safety, cyclists are encouraged to slide along the nearside of vehicles.

I am in favour of separating cars and cycles. I am also in favour of separating cycles and pedestrians.

Mike Natt,

ex North Yorkshire Police collision

investigation unit,

Orchard Close,

Dringhouses, York.

Updated: 10:08 Wednesday, August 21, 2002