KiwiRail staff came to my rescue

Last Wednesday while on a training run from Paeka¯ ka¯ riki to Porirua I tripped on rough patch on the shared path between Plimmerton and Mana, incurring cuts and torn skin to both palms, knees, left elbow and shoulder. A cracked rib was later found.

The driver of a northbound unit saw me go down and stopped a little further on to inform a KiwiRail line inspection team working at a level crossing (he also stopped on his return trip to see how I was).

The KiwiRail team hastened to where I had fallen, helped me back to their vehicles, cleaned me up and administered initial first aid, then took me home to make sure I could get to some medical treatment.

I needed stitches to my hand, lots of dressings and require ongoing treatment.

Thanks to the train driver. Thanks to Chris and his team and to KiwiRail for having such workers on their staff and for giving them the training to handle such incidents as this. John Hammond, Paeka¯ ka¯ riki

Motoring sections

Put people first in the capital and Bringing back balance to transport (April 13) comment on the need for cities to become more liveable, as it is clear our cities are becoming increasingly clogged by private vehicles.

However, I wonder at the sincerity of your paper’s desire to see anything change, when each Saturday you publish an entire motoring section catering to those who seem to need bigger and more expensive vehicles.

Included in last week’s section were reviews of ridiculously large SUVs, and references to Jaguars, Porsches, Audis, Jeeps and Volvos. No doubt most of the buyers of these vehicles don’t give much thought to the increasing congestion and pollution in our cities.

It feels a bit like a pacifist magazine having a regular feature on guns, and makes you wonder if and when anything will change for the better.

Robin Simenauer, Ngaio

Quit flying for leisure

It was interesting that the sustainability officer from the Wellington City Council found that 20 per cent of the city’s emissions were from flying (Wellington’s $7b climate problem, April 13). Yet he seems to think all this flying is essential by then omitting flying from consideration as ‘‘we shouldn’t reduce our connections to the world’’.

No. Some is business flying, some is family/friends and some is leisure or unspecified. It is the last that keeps increasing. The Wellington Airport business/ conference figure for the year ending January 2019 is down 5.8 per cent. The ‘‘other’’ section increased by 15.3 per cent.

And as for him saying, day to day, ‘‘the best thing you can do is not to drive a petrol-driven vehicle and use a different way of getting around’’, it is not.

The best way to reduce your emissions is to fly less and not eat meat or dairy. Aviation emissions are the fastest-growing sector of emissions.

Despite all the hype, planes will continue to depend on fossil fuels to lift them off the ground in the foreseeable future. Many more of us are going to have to stay grounded and land travel must be greatly improved. Deirdre Kent, Waikanae

More lanes needed

The latest update on the proposed Petone to Grenada link road states that funding for a reinvestigation will not be available until 2028 and the link may not proceed at all.

This link was mainly to relieve congestion and traffic growth on State Highway 2 between Ngauranga and Petone and on SH1 north to Grenada.

In the meantime it is reported that Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter has announced funding for a new Ngauranga to Petone cycle/ footway and seawall protection at a cost of between $76 million and $94m (April 13). It is not clear what this includes.

Serious consideration needs to be given to ensure this widening is sufficient to accommodate increasing SH2 from four to six lanes over this section to compensate for the loss of the Petone to Grenada link.

These additional lanes would connect with the off and onramps at Ngauranga and Petone, similar to what was recently completed with the widening between the Aotea Quay and Ngauranga ramps.

This would reduce the current congestion at the Ngauranga and Petone ramps at peak hours and provide for future SH2 traffic growth.

Murray Carpenter, Wilton

Chain of violence

In The House of Islam, Muslim academic Ed Husain argues that East and West need to co-operate if the war-torn Middle East is to have a positive future and realise its full human potential.

That is a long way from the knee-jerk reactions of Donald Trump and his continuation with anti-Iranian trade sanctions and an arms trade with the criminal and inhumane Saudi Arabia and other world troublespots, together with his British allies.

Husain also challenges Muslims trying to follow the spirit of the Koran to publicly repudiate the brutal fundamentalism of Isis/Isil, the Taleban and al Qaeda, mirrored in Hizbollah and Boko Haram in Africa and declare them to be heretics. That, he realises, will take some courage but would cut the ground from under antiMuslim fascism.

As the women of the Middle East have suffered the most persistent repression, they must be supported in their search for political and social equality by all men with a sense of justice.

So it’s time to put away the guns and hate speech and start a real dialogue between ourselves in this country and the rest of the world.

This reawakening of the human spirit must continue to grow at a personal and community level if the chain of violence is to be broken. We are also fortunate to have a national leader who has already shown us how it can be done.

Paul Hockey, Waikanae [abridged]

Tolerance one way

OK, people, time for a reality check. Was the Christchurch terrorist attack horrific? Yes. Does it mean that everyone who goes to a gun club is bad? No.

Should people who wrote a song over 10 years ago – Craig Smith – be boycotted (Wonky Donkey golliwog fight)? No.

People have to remember that things happened in the past that were relevant for the time, but as times and attitudes change things move on. Does that mean people should be banned until they have apologised‘‘enough’’? No.

There is so much talk of tolerance at the moment but it only seems to apply if you happen to agree with the vocal. Maureen Wempe, Carterton