Sent to "Lichfield Post", May 98. Not published.
										1-5-98


	Dear Sir,

			I've just read your report "Caged - and inches from tragedy" (Post, 30th April), and whilst it scores ten out of ten for emotive use of language it gets zero for objectivity.

	  According to your report, this lorry "spun out of control". What an image this conjures up of a leviathan spinning wildly in the grip of uncontrollable forces! Later on, however, we learn that the lorry's brakes locked and it skidded for "several feet", so far from "spinning" it actually skidded for less than its own width. You refer to the lorry "speeding". How fast was it going? Have you the reading from a radar gun? No. Have you analysed the vehicle's tachograph chart? No. "Speeding" is now the general term applied to any vehicle moving faster than a walking pace, so its use is highly emotive but not very helpful. The headline, and the first paragraph, talk of being "inches from tragedy", but later on it's revealed that the lorry came to rest just "yards" from the family concerned. "Yards", not "inches", so the headline is out by a factor of 36. Hardly accurate reporting.

	Now I didn't see the incident in question, but I have spent 15 years driving lorries, mostly artics, so from the few facts in the report I can make a fair guess at what actually happened. Trailer brakes are designed to be able to apply hard braking to a load of ten tons per axle, so when there's little or no weight on the back end to hold them down they're apt to be a bit harsh. I know from personal experience that it's very easy to lock trailer brakes at even very low speeds, but with no weight to push the back of the trailer round it generally doesn't step very far out of line. Doubtless disconcerting for anyone in the vicinity who doesn't understand what's going on, but I've seen many instances of this as a driver and a pedestrian, and although the effect is impressive the lorry still stops under control and in a straight line so it doesn't cause much danger. It doesn't make a very good story, but could it be that the lorry was travelling at a speed where the driver knew that even allowing for trailer brake lockup he could stop "yards" short of hitting anything?

	The report calls for "road safety measures" to be installed, obviously the currently popular "traffic calming" which is spreading like a rash around our road system. What sort of "road safety measures" shall we have? Mini islands such as those recently installed on Boley Park which have caused so many accidents?  Chicanes, perhaps, like those in Barton which have also caused numerous accidents? (Mercury January 15th.) Speed bumps, which increase exhaust pollution by 50% and cause injuries (including fractures) to vehicle occupants? (Mercury February 12th.) Eastern Avenue is a bypass, not a country lane. It carries large volumes of traffic from the A38 and Boley Park to the A51. Speed bumps and other road-worsening measures would cause traffic jams back to Rugeley!

	If a lorry drives over you even at walking pace you're going to die, so to concentrate on "speed" as the solution to all our problems is misguided. What we should be doing is separating people and traffic altogether. The Council undoubtedly want traffic calming to try and cover up their own bad planning in allowing houses and schools to be built either side of a busy road, but instead of doing their dirty work for them and softening us up for traffic calming by emotive reporting perhaps the Post could campaign for what we really need- a footbridge.

		Yours Faithfully,





				Chris Lamb.