Letters of the week, August 2
The issues that got you talking this week
Just deserts
I am surprised by the sympathy for Will Dron’s careless driving conviction, especially from Roger Marsden (“Day in court”, Points, last week ), who says he is a retired traffic officer. I am too, having headed the traffic department of a large police force for some years. Dron conveniently plays down the fact that by his own admission he was exceeding the speed limit when he undertook the “lane- hogger”, who was in fact travelling at the legal speed limit.
While you can argue the case of poor driving by the lane-hogger, it was Dron who was driving illegally. He should take his medicine without complaining and be glad he wasn’t reported for a speeding offence as well as driving without due care.
Roger Hart, Davenport, Greater Manchester
American model
I am not sure why the British are so against updating the Highway Code to include overtaking on all sides, as it is legal to do in America. As cars can pass on both sides in the States the traffic is kept moving more steadily, plus road rage is reduced as drivers are no longer stuck in the overtaking lane behind a slow coach. Also, far from catching one unaware, knowing that the manoeuvre might happen means motorists have to be more alert at all times.
Alexandra Westcott, London
Police presence
One reason for everyone else abiding by the 50mph speed limit, apart from the signs, may have been that they were aware of the police car in the queue that Dron obviously didn’t see.
DR Marsh, Camberley, Surrey
Left thinking
Immediately after my son passed his driving test I sent him to a police lecture on motorway driving being held in a nearby village. He reported a useful bit of advice, which was that you should move to the left if you think you will be able to remain there for at least 15 seconds. I’ve borne this in mind since.
Michael Bradbury, Reigate
Hack reporting
Jeep was fortunate the hackers of its Cherokee exposed the SUV’s vulnerability to cybercrime, so enabling the company to issue a security update (“Mirror, signal, hijack: hackers take remote control of Jeep”, News, last week). This should be a wake-up call to car makers to pause their headlong rush to introduce ever more connectivity into their vehicles. Not all hackers are as benign as the two digital security experts who revealed the flaw.
Peter Saunders, Salisbury
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Worth forgetting
You report that road safety organisations are calling for refresher courses for motorists because 98% failed a retake of the theory test (“Bang goes the theory as 98% fail mock driving exam”, News, last week). There is another way of looking at this statistic. People remember without effort information that is useful, relevant and in everyday use. If they do not recall archaic parts of the theory test, it’s because this examination — like all others — is swotted for, passed and then consigned to the mental delete bin as irrelevant to day-to-day practicalities.
Mark Bindley, Peterborough
Clamping their style
There’s an easy answer — if the political will were there — to the problem of collecting money for penalty charges from the owners of cars with Arabic numberplates (“Roll up, roll up — the supercar circus is in town”, last week). If the traffic warden can’t read the numberplate, the car gets clamped until the fixed penalty is paid.
Ian Gordon, Camberley, Surrey
Iran memories
In 1968 six of us drove from London to Isfahan, in Iran, and back in the then new six-cylinder Land Rover (“43C, no air-con, having a lovely drive in Iran”, last week). I remember the traffic in Istanbul being worse than even Tehran. The biggest difficulty was getting back into Turkey: they wouldn’t let us in until we shaved our beards off, much to the amusement of the Iranian officials, who gave us hot water. All in all, it was a wonderful experience in a fascinating country.
Sam Wiggs, Ansty, Wiltshire
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