Hear All Sides

ROAD SAFETY

YOUR editorial (Echo, May 3) once again highlights the shocking state of safety on our roads.

Anyone who knows the Dalton road will recognise that cars and lorries regularly speed down this section of the road, failing to recognise the narrowness of the bridge, or the possibility of traffic coming in the other direction, despite warnings to slow down on the road.

Surely the time has come for heavy vehicles to be banned from this road, other than for access, and for the speed limit to be reduced to 30mph. As well as improving safety for both road and rail users, this would have the added benefit of removing unnecessary traffic from this country lane.

Some people seem to think the railway should be made to pay simply because the road crosses a railway - but this would be akin to the highway authority paying to maintain the Forth Bridge, simply because it crosses a road.

I'm somewhat-puzzled as to why you focus on rail crashes, when ten people on average die every day on our roads, and all the information we have confirms that rail is still the safest form of land transport.

Indeed, in light of the lax safety standards accepted on our roads, to not be demanding an immediate explanation from the road industry is a woeful act of complacency. - David Harrington, Darlington.

YOU showed (Echo, May 5) the scandalous broken fence at Plawsworth railway bridge before barriers were recently fitted. The bridge at Dalton, over the fast main line, looks just as bad today. It is pitiful that North Yorkshire and Railtrack dispute responsibilities instead of making an urgent practical response as Durham did.

Special warning signs would be a start. A genuine approach to identifying hazards would have picked this up long ago.

Selby wasn't a chance event. It was incompetent safety planning. - Mike O'Carroll, Independent Candidate, Appleton Wiske Division, NYCC

RACE RELATIONS

YOU showed both the best and worst of journalism (Echo, May 1).

Ian Lamming's article entitled Britian: the mongrel race, puts into context the rubbish that has been spouted by various politicians and newspapers about John Townend's reported remarks about race.

As Ian has said, Britain is made up of various different and complementary components such as the Picts, Romans, Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Scandinavians, Normans, Irish, Hugenots and so on. Since the last war, those from India and Afro-Caribbean countries have also settled here. The royal families of Europe are all related by marriage and genes, our royal family being, of course, a pot pourri of different races, but most strongly German.

Let's celebrate the multi-culturalism of Britain and the diversity of our country instead of encouraging fear and ignorance.

On the same page, Peter Mullen is back on his hobby horse of global warming and the May Day anti-capitalists. I had hoped that, having read his articles on religion recently, he might stick to something he knows something about. Not a hope.

While there are arguments about the extent of global warning, there is no doubt that the environment is changing unpredictably. Most of this is due to our use of fossil fuels and resources and the result of global emissions and the impact of the imbalance on the Earth. The US, as the biggest polluter on the planet, has a lot to lose economically if it accepts the rules that other countries are willing to abide by.

For Mr Mullen to see global warming as a Commie-inspired plot is laughable. - Dave Atkinson, Darlington.

I WOULD like to express my disgust at Robin Cook's statement that the British are not a race (Echo, Apr 20).

His argument is that we are composed of Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Normans and Vikings. All these ancestors were tribes who lived in Europe for thousands of years and stem from the same Aryan root.

The Indian people are composed of Aryans and Dravidians, two distinct races, and African people are composed of many tribes. Why doesn't Mr Cook tell them they are not a race as well. Is it because they are not English?

When it comes to the English in this country, the Government is like the Gestapo. - TC Jones, Darlington.

RED CROSS WEEK

RED Cross Week this year takes place this week throughout the UK, raising money to support the services we offer to our local communities.

This year, County Durham and Teesside have seen the catastrophic foot-and-mouth crisis which has hit so many in our area with the horrendous and long-reaching knock-on effect to the tourist industry and many related businesses.

We will not, therefore, be collecting this year in any rural areas, on farms or anywhere that might be sensitive.

We have responded to the crisis as we thought appropriate after discussion with the NFU and have ceased all services in rural areas for the time being. We have, however, offered to visit any family members or friends of anyone farmbound who might be in hospital or needing extra support.

During Red Cross Week, most of you will see our collection boxes in shops and offices or volunteers collecting in your town or village.

We are also always pleased to receive any donations, of any amount through the post.

Everything we collect supports our local work to anyone who needs us. Any queries can be dealt with at your local Red Cross Centre or at the Branch Headquarters, Flass House, Durham City, 0191-386 4367 or fax 0191-384 4517. - Geoffrey Berriman, British Red Cross, County Durham and Teesside.