• WE all feel extremely shocked and saddened at the death of another cyclist and cannot begin to understand how the family are managing to cope with the loss of their child (Change the road law, June 15).

Let’s for a minute think of the motorcyclist and his family and friends. It was proven he was travelling at 20mph. This is a huge point which should not be glossed over.

He will have been breathalysed and questioned. Witnesses will have been questioned and the very professional traffic police will have made a full report.

For Dr Greg Carson, your letter-writer, to suggest that he should have been doing 10mph is ridiculous. The crazy thing here, Dr Carson, is, if the motorcyclist had been doing 30mph, this accident wouldn’t have happened as he would have already passed that spot when the cyclist turned.

Dr Carson also quotes The Highway Code Rule 146 and the need to adapt our driving to the appropriate condition of the road – it has been proven, he was driving appropriately for the condition of the road.

Who is Dr Carson to “suspect” the motorcyclist feels the incident couldn’t be avoided? How can you or anyone anticipate what he feels or the torment and horror he has to live with, day in and day out? This was a tragic accident. The key point here… it was an accident.

A tourist to the UK can come here and hire a Santander cycle without any knowledge of The Highway Code. When you think about it, it’s bizarre that one can ride on the road, with the “deadly masses of metal” and not have any idea what the rules/laws are – and all without a helmet.

As another correspondent said: we need cycle proficiency taught to all children. As a cyclist myself and a motorcyclist, I have learned it’s best to assume that other road users have not spotted me and try to be prepared to take evasive action when approaching junctions or filtering through traffic.

As a car driver I find when I drive at 20mph I get all sorts of angry reactions from fellow road users, usually followed by dangerous overtaking, causing even more danger to other road users. In these instances, it would probably be more “appropriate” for me to drive at 25.

By the way, I have been overtaken by cyclists on quite a few occasions while I am driving at the legal limit. There are some bad drivers, riders and pedestrians on all roads.

A question Dr Carson: “How do you feel about cyclists travelling on our roads texting? Or wearing headphones and listening to music? Would it still be a motorist’s fault if that cyclist was involved in a collision?

MICHAEL MIDDLETON
Mansfield Road, NW3