Bad driving is cause of most accidents

While the headline ‘Road death toll is the worst in the country’ [Gazette, Jan 4] may appear alarming, the underlying trend is, largely, one of improvement.

As Steve Horton, KCC’S road safety manager, points out, Kent with its 5,000 miles of roads, including two motorways, is often near the top of statistics. The DFT supports this view.

Of the five local authorities with the highest traffic levels, three are in the South East (Kent, Surrey and Hampshire).

The DFT also states a record 323 billion miles were clocked up nationally in 2016, but, interestingly, “the risk of being killed or seriously injured in a road accident has fallen, almost every year, from a peak in 1949 of 165 deaths per billon vehicle kilometres travelled to the lowest level of 5.4 bvm in 2015”.

It was refreshing to see the figures for accident contributory factors quoted in your article. The Alliance of British Drivers has been saying for years it is the low overall standard of driving that primarily cause accidents.

Where we differ from KCC is the latter’s insistence that major focus should be on speed control.

KCC’S decision to digitise its speed cameras, at a cost to taxpayers of £5 million, is chasing the wrong priorities.

Of the tragic fatalities reported by the Gazette in the Canterbury district, you will notice, sadly, common factors. 1) Drivers are often in the 17-30 age group. 2) Drivers are frequently accompanied by passengers in the same age group. 3) The high-impact crashes occur late at night involving loss of control of the vehicle.

It’s these people who distort the generally improving trends in road safety. The ABD has frequently been a lone voice pressing for improved levels of driver training. Brian Macdowall The Alliance of British Drivers, Greenhill Gardens, Herne Bay what is by now a familiar slogan: “It’s time to respect the majority who voted to get out of the EU.”

But there is more to be said, and this is where the discussion should begin.

It’s a basic principle of democracy that majority decisions should be accepted. But equally essential is that minorities should be treated with respect and their views be listened to.

And when a majority vote in a referendum is as close as 52-48, anyone with a genuine concern for democracy would be looking to some kind of compromise.

If the concerns of 48% of voters should not be completely disregarded how can they best be accommodated? Richard Norman St Michael’s Place, Canterbury cold snap, the UK took emergency measures to import Russian gas and relied heavily on power from Europe. R G Barton St Martin’s Hill, Canterbury interred on the north side of St Martin’s church. On his grave is a large stone boulder, the side facing the church stating simply ‘Walter Cozens 1858 – 1928’. Alan Major Author of Who’s Buried Where in Kent, Heaton Road, Canterbury