Rethink speed limit

October 18, 2004

Dear Sir,

It seems to me that the question of speed on our roads has not been thought through with much care. The 35 kph speed limit was set in 1947 when none of our roads had been altered to suit motorised traffic and only the main route between the two US bases and Front Street had even been covered with tarmac. Since then our roads have been everywhere widened and straightened, drivers have long since voted to raise the limit to 45 to 50 kph, a perfectly reasonable speed on our more modern roads. Indeed, few if any automatic geared vehicles will drive comfortably at 35 kph.

Our problem now is the smooth movement of traffic, not its excessive speed. There are too many congestion points, notably between the Paget traffic lights and the south Trimingham roundabout and the appallingly inept traffic controls in the City of Hamilton. The problem in Hamilton would be easily solved with a modicum of intelligence and the realisation that traffic should be encouraged to move efficiently, not brought to a complete halt every 50 yards.

The stretch of road in Paget, however, requires major road engineering. In the meantime the situation could be greatly ameliorated by immediately forbidding any right turns either onto or off the highway from the lights to the roundabout. A great increase in the number of one-way streets would also help. Slowing everyone down to 35 kph would merely add to congestion by some 30 percent.

GET REAL

City of Hamilton

Too many zebra crossings

October 18, 2004

Dear Sir,

There are far too many pedestrian crossings. I am frequently obliged to cross one of the busiest (and widest) sections of roadway in the Island. I am 70 years old and I manage perfectly easily without one. There should obviously be school crossings to enable groups of children to cross from buses before and after school. They should be controlled and monitored when in use by an adult with a stop-go traffic sign.There are half a dozen crossings that are only used on Sundays. Most of the rest of the crossings are the result of a few whiners who want life made easy for them and have a vote that some politician wants. The rest of them are mostly valueless, particularly the ones in Hamilton where traffic is almost always stopped anyway.

PEDESTRIAN

Paget

Third lane thoughtlessness

October 18, 2004

Dear Sir,

Apart from tourists, who are probably less well taught than they should be in the operation of unfamiliar vehicles on unfamiliar roads where traffic moves on the "wrong" side, our traffic deaths are almost entirely confined to motorcyclists. It is my occasional fate to have to drive against the "rush hour" traffic. It is a terrifying experience. Frustrated by the glacial pace of the four wheeled traffic great snarls of motorcyclists take to the wrong side of the road trusting that the oncoming traffic will squeeze over or stop completely to avoid them.

Sometimes half the opposite lane is filled with bikes trying to beat the traffic (check the Paget traffic lights during the morning rush hour). As often, some maniac will be racing along on the centre line or outside it careless of his or her own life and thoughtless of the anguish of the driver who unwillingly kills him.There has been a call to create the crime of vehicular homicide. The legislation, if forthcoming, should include the crime of vehicular suicide. "Accidents" they're not.

GRIM REAPER

Warwick

Know the difference

October 25, 2004

Dear Sir,

In response to Greg (Smokey) Simons' letter that we should take the contents of the HIV ketchup e-mail hoax seriously, I would like to suggest that he and others do the following when they receive any e-mail warning of any dangerous activity:

1. Check the news media for anything supporting the article at hand. If none exists, then it's likely a hoax and you shouldn't panic.

2. Take a note of which time of year this message is being read. If it's near to Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, Easter or April Fools' Day, be aware that the message could be a hoax.

3. Any e-mail message urging people to "send to everybody you know" should be considered firstly as a potential hoax meant to cause panic and disturbances.

4. In this particular case, take note that AIDS is not a food-borne disease. Some research on the Internet or through your physician should help.

The Nigerian business proposal e-mail scams and the more recent Citibank e-mail scams are testament to the "don't believe everything you read" theory that all people should apply when reading e-mails. We must know the difference between urban legend and actual verifiable warnings.

DAVID A. GIBBONS

Hamilton Parish

Tired of trailers

October 18, 2004

Dear Sir,

Given the current widespread distress in respect of our traffic problems I note that the unfortunate Rosemary Bigelow was killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer. The unchecked increase in the number of very large pieces of industrial machinery moving around on our roads was bound sooner or later to result in tragedy. In the last six weeks I have been completely halted three times for many minutes on our main roads while enormous flatbed trailers attempted to negotiate bends totally unsuited to their size. Self-propelled cranes of vast size and slow progress clog our roads daily.

Just today I encountered four such vehicles on a two mile run. I have no doubt that these behemoths must occasionally move from place to place. They should be required to do so before 6.30 a.m. or after 7.30 p.m. with suitable escort vehicles and people available to direct traffic when they must stop or cannot negotiate turns too sharp for them. Why the National Trust bleats about a couple of inches on the width of cars when these colossal monsters are clogging our roads beats me.

INTIMIDATED

Warwick

Replace eastern bridges

October 25, 2004

Dear Sir,

Well, I see that someone in Government has wised up and is finally considering a complete rebuild of the Causeway. I honestly think that that's the best long-term solution, and I think too that the new causeway should include the following features:

1) It should be on stilts, at least 15 feet above the high tide level.

2) It should incorporate a bridge, at least 30 feet above high tide level, to replace Longbird Bridge.

3) It should incorporate a footpath for pedestrians and pedal cyclists.

Government did something similar at Watford Bridge some years back. This would be the same idea but with more roadway thrown in, and, while expensive in the first place, Government would eventually save money because they wouldn't have to spend nearly as much on maintaining a bridge that doesn't move. In fact I think they ought to consider a similar project to replace Swing Bridge as well, although that priority isn't quite so high.

VOX ORIENTALIS

St. George's

Lets get richer this Xmas

October 25, 2004

Dear Sir,

As Christmas approaches, it is important to remember that, though it may have once been a holiday that celebrated the birth of God, it is now a celebration of consumption. Not only does that bring us joy as we absorb food and drink in large amounts; but by doing so we ignite the wealth-generating powers of the economy to create more money and thus get more. More what? More of whatever we want. For this we remember at Christmas time to be thankful for this blessed cycle of consumption. It brings us the surfeit of our living requirement which we call expendable wealth. We use this to buy gifts for people that they think they do not need. Once they have them, they use these objects, they live a new life. They are enriched by their new possessions; and never want to go back to the poorer life they had before.

They return the favour and in buying, for us, create, by fiscal multipliers, more wealth that leads on to even more enriched lives. Its what brings us all together. In school we teach our children to strive for these improved, more viable, purposeful lives of wealth. Every Christmas, the Feast of Consumption, we shower them with the toy rewards of that future. "Remember," we say "in the future all these toys will be real things; bigger, more expensive and better". And our children are glad. They view their lucrative future with joy and awe.

Do we not reflect the birth of God, so long ago, that was born to make us free? The ancient religions chained us to a religion that praised the earth. At Christmas, we celebrate the bounty of the harvest. But we have the will, desire and often the means to do whatever we want. We are freed from the ignorance of the natural law and our natural origin. We embrace a faith untainted by the needs and responsibility of the earth. We want to be richer. We want to feel richer. And at Christmas we do. Let's all get richer this Christmas and have more stuff, eat more, drink more, sell more, raise the gross domestic product (national quotient) and be thankful for the market. Remember to go out and buy. It'll put a smile on your face and warmth in your heart!

JOHN ZUILL

Pembroke

More questions

October 26, 2004

Dear Sir,

In response to D.A. Rance from Bermuda Waterworks, all I ever wanted was for someone to fix the shut-off valve, which was hard to close. If there was no problem with it, why was one of your workers seen with something that looked like pliers and WD40 closing the valve to put a lock on it? The valve comes before the water meter so according to you it is your responsibility.

From day one what I complained about was not being able to close the valve properly. As you said when the valve was fully closed, no water came through. So if it was possible to close properly I wouldn't have had $300 water bills. If the shut off valve is your responsibility why do I have to get my pliers out, to close it?

MY CUP OVERFLOWETH

Paget