ONE might have thought that newly-elected representatives, like Hyndburn Borough councillor Adrian Shurmer, would have had the sense and humility to look into the actual ways in which local services are planned and delivered before jumping in, in ignorance, to stop well-thought-out road safety schemes.

He suggests (LET, June 16) that traffic-calming is introduced as a "knee-jerk reaction" which is "based simply on the number of injuries". He says "we need to look behind the figures."

The reality in Lancashire is that all schemes are a result of very careful and detailed investigation of every single accident. All elements associated with each tragedy are considered before appropriate engineering designs are produced. The County Council, along with the police, have considerable expertise in road safety investigation and prevention work.

Of course, if Councillor Shurmer insists on seeking to halt spending on traffic-calming in Hyndburn, then in future we shall easily be able to re-allocate these resources to other parts of Lancashire which request and welcome casualty reduction work. But it will be up to him to explain to the people of Hyndburn that he has no interest in reducing the tragedy and suffering resulting from crashes on local roads.

COUNTY COUNCILLOR Richard Toon, chair of the highways and transportation committee, Lancashire County Council.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.