Strangely, I find myself in some agreement with Mike Usherwood (Letters, April 20).

I'm a blissfully happy car-free cyclist and I would put a tax disk on my bike to pay for:

u Lovely tree-lined paths full of happy people walking and cycling and getting loads of fresh air and exercise

u Traffic-free streets ringing with the sound of children playing in safety.

Your taxes Mr Usherwood can pay for:

u Congestion, pollution, 3,500 funerals for the dead, 24,000 funerals for the victims of pollution, health care for 40,000 injuries and rising numbers of respiratory complaints, structural damage to roads and buildings, damaged and destroyed eco-systems through oil exploration and production, the cost to businesses of traffic-related stress and lost time stuck in traffic, safe play areas for children, compensation for the annual butchers bill for car dependency. The list goes on.

I know which tax bill and world I would rather have.

Graham Horne,

Beech Avenue,

Bishopthorpe, York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.