Letter: Newbury and the roads dilemma: why we must break with the Briti sh car culture

Sir: Nicholas Gregory (letters, 12 April) exhorts motorists to abandon the clogged-up motorways and use instead the A and B roads. This is not welcome news for vulnerable country road users such as cyclists and pedestrians.

Too many motorists treat country lanes as race tracks. TV programmes such as Top Gear and adverts showing performance cars hurtling round hairpins in Tuscany encourage this anti-social behaviour. If more and more motorists leave the roads designed for their use and speed around rural areas, death and injury rates will rise. The laudable Sustrans National Cycle Network will rely heavily on country lanes. It won't be much of a traffic-free network if motorists on long journeys decide to leave the motorways and zip through the lanes.

An increasing number of towns are installing traffic calming measures - speed bumps, police cameras, chicanes. Perhaps rural areas should consider doing likewise. The tranquillity of the countryside might depend on it.

Carlton Reid

Editor, Cycle Industry

Newcastle upon Tyne