Roads could be safer

No, Britain's record in reducing road accidents is not "something to be proud of" (Leaders, March 10). One of the reasons for lower deaths over time and compared with other European countries is a decline in already low levels of the least endangering forms of transport, namely walking and cycling. Absence of vulnerable people from the road does mean our roads are getting safer: indeed, one of the reasons parents do not allow children to walk or cycle is that roads are seen as dangerous.

Of course, there are ways to improve road safety. These involve a more critical analysis of the AA Motoring Trust's recommendations. They involve appreciating the fundamental difference between endangering others and being on the receiving end of that danger. They involve refusal to simply tot up statistics referring to a variety of quite different types of incident.

Above all, they are based on a complacent acceptance that everything is getting better. The fact is that it is simply immoral and uncivilised to allow members of a society to endanger others in the way that so many drivers find acceptable. For those obsessed with number crunching, the deaths associated with a car-based transport system are mostly those from health problems stemming from lack of exercise, greenhouse gas emissions, and diversion of resources into unsustainable transport systems.

Dr. Robert Davis
Road Danger Reduction Forum