SIR – What is it with cars that break down in Bradford, especially ahead of a line of traffic? Surely they cannot all have seized gearboxes preventing the vehicle being ‘pushed’ over to the side of the carriageway?

They sit static, hazards flashing away, as chaos behind ensues and no-one appears ‘brave’ enough to lend a hand, so all at the scene suffer the delay. I recall the California Highway Patrol switching allegiance from Harley Davidson to Kawasaki motorcycles, and the officers relished the prospect of machines that would actually ‘stop’ and have the speed and agility to catch the bad guys.

However the lament was that a Harley possessed the muscle to shove a broken down car off the freeway. Try this with a Kawasaki and it would very likely snap the bike’s frame!

I wonder if the West Yorkshire Police’s BMW machines measure up to a Harley in the muscle category, as otherwise there seems little inclination for anyone to select the car’s neutral gear, release the handbrake and er... push it gently out of the way!

John Murphy, Cooper Lane, Bradford