WE owe Vic Barlow a deep level of gratitude in highlighting the latest figures on fatalities on Cheshire’s roads in the August 23 edition.

He is absolutely correct to remind us that ‘the distracting accessories we have in our vehicles’ may play an important part in causing these fatalities and ‘sustained lifechanging injuries’.

I was particularly impressed by his call for the development of phones that would cut out in motion.

We could do much better than that as GPS technology already has the potential to automatically regulate speed and driving behaviour according to changing road conditions.

However, I was a little concerned that he focused almost exclusively on driver behaviour.

Important as that is – as reductions drink driving has shown – infrastructure that more imaginatively and sustainably protects the safety of all who share the use of roads and streets is, in my view, the key.

Historically, we have much to be proud of in achieving what has appeared to be an impressive decline in road casualties.

This is due in no small part to the breathalyser and seat belts, efficient and reliable breaking systems and the much more advanced protective features for the occupants of vehicles.

Sadly this has not always extended to pedestrians and cyclists.

If I were a parent or grandparent there are very few, if any, areas which I would be confident enough to allow my 12 year old child who had passed level 2 Bikeability to cycle independently to school, shops and play.

Paul Thomson Mobberley