Letters of the week, January 18
This week: A-pillar blind spots, Clarkson's Lexus hybrid review, parent and child parking places...
Pillar talk
If certain vehicles are banned by the Driving Standards Agency from being used for the driving test because of their A-pillar blind spots, why are they allowed on the roads at all (Car Clinic, last week)?
Edward Baker, Tunbridge Wells
Safety feature
How many injuries have been caused by blind spots compared with the number of lives saved by thicker A-pillars?
John Pitcock, Stirchley, Birmingham
Not so fast
Enforcing a 70mph speed limit still fails to address the anomaly of HGVs exceeding their 60mph speed limit (“Drivers warned to stick to 70mph as motorway speed cameras arrive by stealth”, last week). I often encounter HGVs and coaches travelling at 70mph with little or no risk of being caught.
Graham Beck, Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire
Parental guidance
My mother is 91 and unable to walk very far. Her disabled parking pass expired and it was too complicated to renew, so we use parent-and-children parking spaces: she’s a parent and I’m her child (“Parking offence”, Points, last week). Why do parents with young children need spaces near entrances? They’re young and fit and generally have giant four-wheel-drive pushchairs.
Brian Dugan, Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
In a hurry
If your reader William Pendlebury thinks driving too slowly is the biggest menace on the roads (“Slow off the mark”, Points, January 4), I’m glad I’m not in his neck of the woods, where I suspect he pressures all those slowcoaches so he can keep his urgent rendezvous with his superstore.
Paul Carroll, Wigan
Hybrid conversion
Jeremy Clarkson praises a Lexus hybrid (“Who cares if it’s slow? It’s got more toys than Hamleys”, January 4), an expensive four-wheel-drive version of the Toyota Prius, the owners of which he has hurled abuse at for years. His reasons for this change of heart? It’s quiet, comfortable, spacious, economical and full of gadgets — as is the Prius. No doubt he will be buying a caravan when he realises how convenient they are.
John Stewart, Uphall, West Lothian
