Submitted to "Lichfield Mercury" Aug 98 Not published.
										23-8-98


	Dear Sir,

			So, the anti-Highways Department at Staffordshire County Council are going ahead with their plans to impose an unnecessary 20mph speed limit, and clutter Lichfield with so-called "traffic calming" in the form of road humps.

	The plans were first revealed months ago as a scheme called "People First". They like to portray it as "the car versus the people", with themselves as the valiant defenders of the people against the evil motorcar, evoking images of George and the Dragon, David and Goliath, this sort of thing. Have they never looked inside a car and seen the people?  People drive cars, people travel in cars, people use cars to get to work, to go shopping, to visit friends. People are not against cars. People like cars. What they don't like is people who try to stop them using their cars. (County councillors please take note.)

	This is supposedly being done in the name of "safety". Will they make the roads safer? Well, the Council's record on making the roads safer is dubious to say the least. Chicanes in Barton caused numerous accidents (Mercury, January 15 1998), and the "Silly Isles" on Boley Park have also caused many accidents, including one a day over one fortnight.  They caused so many accidents that even the Council admitted there was a problem, although they refused to admit that the problem was caused by them in the first place. According to a report in the Mercury on February 12th 1998, road humps cause injuries to vehicle occupants, (including fractures), and increase exhaust fumes by 50%. Bus passengers are likely to be the worst affected, as buses have much harder suspensions than cars. I thought they wanted us to use buses more?

	Their determination to slow us down is in line with the Government's fallacious message that "Speed Kills". Does it? The Government claim that around a third of accidents are caused by drivers "speeding". The Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Traffic Safety admits, however, that those sort of statistics aren't collected in this country. Where studies have been done, notably in the United States, the findings are that the figures are more like 2%, not 33%. Certainly some people drive at a speed which is far too high for the prevailing conditions. I see them regularly, and I'm all in favour of these people being prosecuted for dangerous driving. We have a lot of highly paid policemen swanning round in expensive patrol cars, perhaps they could address this minority of the motoring population? The Council could make the roads safer by, for example, improving junctions, and banning parking in dangerous places (Curborough Rd is a case in point). Just slowing vehicles down won't solve the problems.

	The real reason for these humps is the prevailing politically correct view that cars are bad, and that every possible indignity, obstruction and inconvenience must be heaped upon the long-suffering motorist. A pressure group called the "Slower Speeds Initiative" (who on earth elected THEM?) is calling for 20mph limits in all built up areas, and 40mph limits everywhere else. Why? According to them it's to "detract from the glamour of driving"! This the hidden agenda behind these plans.

	These speed humps will cause danger, discomfort, and annoyance, without making the roads in Lichfield any safer, and all in the name of some politically correct view promoted by anti-car activists. Drivers of Lichfield, write to the Council and voice your objections. (The address is Director of Development Services, Development Services Department, Riverway, Stafford ST16 3TJ). If enough people object we might, just might, make them see sense.

		Yours Faithfully,





				Chris Lamb.