FOG AND THE 70 LIMIT

FOG AND THE 70 LIMIT

Sir,

I would like to support the views of your correspondent D. J. Rodbard who states that statistics can be conjured by the M.o.T. to support almost anything and not necessarily the truth.

The most significant factor in comparing the fatalities of last winter on the motorways, with a 70 limit, and the previous winter is that there was hardly any fog in the winter months of this year. When the 70 limit was introduced there was dense fog almost every evening on the M4 and people were concenina-ed to death, burnt to death, and all sorts of horrific fatalities caused by motorists driving ” blind.” This prompted Transport Minister Fraser to introduce a 70 limit and fog signals on motorways.

How anyone has the gall to compare a fog-free winter of this year together with a winter when people were killed in stationary fog-bound vehicles is incredulous, I would like to point out that the M.o.T. hasNOT been able to prove a reduction in accidents on the motorways since the 70 limit. It has proved that there is a 5% reduction in road deaths which I suggest is the sole consequence of having a comparatively fog-free winter. Barbara Castle has been reported as having had road-side conferences with motorists at Ml cafes recently and stating, ” The 70 limit is good for you—it has reduced fatalities by 5%.” If there

are ” pea-soupers ” on the M4 this winter she should be ready to eat her own words.

Coventry. ANTHONY J. BROWN.