Thank you for publishing my letter and Bill Sykes's reply, Speed does kill (Oxford Mail, May 11).
His league table relating to speed and collisions between pedestrians and motor vehicles has to be viewed with circumspection because there are many possible contributing factors. Speed cameras are a stealth tax, providing easy money for the police and Government.
Instead of persecuting basically law-abiding citizens, the police should focus on the following: One in six cars on the road is being driven by an uninsured driver. Surely it is much more serious to drive uninsured than to break the speed limit by a minor degree?
Rogue drivers are avoiding speeding tickets by using false addresses. Again, the honest suffer The DVLA admits that its database is 97.5 per cent accurate. This means that with 27,520,000 cars on the road, 688,000 are unregistered. These are the people who will drive badly, have faulty vehicles, get involved in hit-and-run collisions and so on. Should the police be waging war on this scandal? I think so.
Mr Sykes claims that off-duty police personnel are prosecuted if caught by a camera. I pointed out in a previous letter that in a recent year, 440 police drivers were caught in Somerset. One was prosecuted.
Perhaps someone will give us the figures for Oxfordshire.
Mr Sykes suggests I view the THINK! website. I am unable to because on a visit to Aylesbury, my car was broken into and my computer stolen. Aylesbury police were not interested. They will be when I pass one of their wretched cameras at 35mph.
PATRICK POWER, Mortehoe, Devon
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article