Letters to the Editor

All road accidents are the result of one or more vehicles going too fast. Below a certain speed and it is possible to stop in time; above a certain speed it is impossible to avoid a collision.

In between there is a small window where the skill of the driver - or lack of it - can affect the outcome.

In the early days of Mr Mildew's life when cars had to be preceded by a pedestrian carrying a red flag, road accidents were very few and far between.

Now that there are more than 22 million vehicles on the road with most capable of speeds of more than 100 mph a balance has to be struck between danger and convenience and then strictly enforced.

What few who complain about "just a few mph over the limit" realise is that the energy contained in a moving vehicle is proportionate to the square of the speed.

Thus Mr Mildew's correspondent who was "just 8mph" over the limit increased the destructive potential of his car by 60 per cent.

Brian Holmans, Langley Road, Bingley.

SIR - I meet a great many people who are anti-EU. I have yet to meet any person who is so for racist or "Little Englander" reasoning.

I know four European languages, study and adore Spanish and French Art and Literature and have multitudes of friends throughout the EU. I own a house in an EU country and travel in Europe at every opportunity.

I recognise that some European countries are better than us at certain things. The French really know how to provide healthcare and most countries have road systems and public transport to embarrass us deeply. This has little to do with the EU as we have failed in these areas after 28 years of membership.

I have no problems in using foreign currencies - including the euro. I applaud social, cultural and trading links with our European friends. Yet I oppose the European Union with every breath in my body.

Go past Europhile smear attacks and find out the multitudes of reasons why people like me want to see an end to membership of this irredeemably corrupt body.

Les Arnott, Athelstan Road, Sheffield

SIR - I can beat Mrs. Irene Ford's claim for feeling like a criminal because she was caught speeding along Thornton Road at 37mph (Letters, May 23).

I was once "clocked" coming off the motorway at Lower Wheeton, Blackburn, speeding along at the "giddy" heights of 36 m.p.h. When I also received my letter from the police informing me of my criminal activities, I pleaded and begged with them but eventually had to take my punishment like a man.

I was fined £60 and given three penalty points, which scuppered any driving career I wished to follow.

The irony of my tale of woe is this my nearest and dearest was also "clocked" on the motorway just outside Dover Kent. Acknowledging her guilt most contritely she received £100 fine and no points deducted.

Joseph Grisag, Hazelhurst Brow, Daisy Hill Road, Bradford

SIR - There is a plain and simple reason for the recent rise of the BNP. It is the unwillingness of the mainstream parties to grasp that the indigenous population is totally fed-up with the constant influx of asylum seekers and immigrants through arranged marriages.

Why should we taxpayers pay for these economic migrants who have contributed nothing to the economy while being told there is not enough money for old people's homes or adequate policing?

This is not a racist view. It is the rational view of the majority who feel they have no voice.

If the other parties continue to pretend that the BNP is a racist party without popular support, and ignore the immigration issue for fear of being branded racist, then we may soon be seeing BNP MPs in Westminster.

G Stevens, White Abbey Road, Bradford

SIR - International development charity VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) is offering a thrilling and extraordinary trekking challenge in the half-term weeks of 2003. Why not astonish friends with your unusual long weekend in the Sierra Nevada, southern Spain, from October 18-21?

VSO needs people to raise vital money for their work overseas. Without this we would be unable to continue sending volunteers to some of the world's poorest communities to work with them to build a better future for themselves.

Funds raised from the VSO Sierra Nevada Trek 2003 will go directly towards supporting the work of VSO volunteers worldwide, particularly focusing on the areas of HIV and AIDS and education.

The VSO Sierra Nevada Trek 2003 takes place over four days. Catering for people who can't take time out for our longer treks, it's perfect for teachers. The trek's objective is to trek the south side of the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain and climb the desolate lunar landscape of mainland Spain's highest mountains, Mulhacen, over 3,500m, in 72 hours.

Places are limited, so call the VSO Events Hotline on 020 8780 7241 today or email julie.contreras@ vso.org.uk for further information.

Sir Bobby Charlton (for VSO).

SIR - Replying to Diane Duguid's recent letter from New York; while I sympathise with alleged smoking-related illnesses I must make a pertinent point.

Many people die of lung cancer and other forms who do not smoke. As regards my heart and lungs, let me inform her that until nigh 50 I ran a half-marathon daily, worked out in boxing clubs, karate clubs, went circuit training and swimming. I am now restricted due to arthritis in hips and knees.

The wrong side of 50, I still do what I can in the gym. I now frequently go hill-walking. So much for smoking.

Finally may I point out the dramatic decrease in smokers. The increase in cancer and the epidemic of asthma is probably due to car exhaust emissions, something that really gets up the noses of the health Nazis.

Alan Holdsworth, Chippendale Court, Menston.

SIR - I note that a list of the Top 100 Books of All Time, has been submitted by nearly 140,000 people to the BBC2 programme the Big Read.

Not, you notice, "The favourite books of a few people in 2003." What arrogance. Who are they? Who or what gives TV or any other organisation the right to tell me, or anyone else, that the works of, say, JRR Tolkein is a better collection of books, than, say HG Wells?

According to this list, writers like Dorothy Dunnet, H Rider-Haggard, Arthur C Clark, Conan Doyle and many others are not worth our time reading.

Could it not be argued that, had this list been presented ten years ago, or ten years hence, it would be, or would have been, totally different, and to me, just as pointless.

Jack Mawson, Grove House Crescent, Bradford 2.

SIR - More irritating than Mr G Gates are people like Peter Wilson when they draw attention to GG in the adult media (T&A, May 17).

GG's natural home is Smash Hits whose readers, I assume, are teenagers who appreciate his constant grinning (even the war in Iraq didn't dampen it).

There are too few top names in British showbiz, making GG stand out. People like Emma Williams (Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in London) who is from our area, need to be given GG-style publicity offensives to dilute the "GG effect"

To T&A readers I say, bring back Danny Tetley!

J C Taylor, Park Hill Drive, Bradford 8.

SIR - I don't suppose there will be any sympathy from the do-gooders as regards the puppy which had its ears cut off. Their only thought will be for the criminal, if ever caught.

My punishment would be three strokes of the birch plus their own ears cut off.

D Burnett, Great Horton Road, Bradford.

SIR - May I just correct a misconception shared by a few of your correspondents recently. The canals and towpaths are owned by the nation, not British Waterways. British Waterways receives £58million a year from the taxpayer to maintain them.

Cyclists may feel a little more inclined to use the towpath if pedestrians did not walk four abreast and refuse to give way until the last minute and dog walkers kept their dogs on a short lead and cleaned up after their dogs.

I both walk and cycle the canal so it comes as no surprise to me that certain folk round here think they own it. Can I start a new campaign ? Ban all dogs from the towpath!

Richard Mozejko, Bradford Road, Riddlesden