Bikes too dangerous for pavements
Published Date:
22 July 2008
Now that the school summer holidays are upon us I suppose we must endure an alarming increase in cycling on pavements, as if things are not bad enough already.
Cyclists – adults or children – seem to believe that because they are on a bike and not in a car then it's OK.
No, it is not!
Let's go back just a few weeks to the cyclist who was in court for causing the death of someone by cycling on the pavement. That was not "OK" nor was the fine of just over £2,000 that was imposed.
Neither cyclists nor the police seem to take this crime even half seriously and it's high time they did.
And to any cyclist who says that they ride on the pavement because it's far too dangerous on the road I can only say that they shouldn't even be allowed on a pair of roller skates, never mind a bike.
T Ainscough, via email
Royal mail treats posties so badly
We are told that one of the warning signs that someone is being bullied is a change in personality and attitude from being happy and outgoing, to being quiet and withdrawn.
Has anyone noticed this change in their postie lately?
I resigned from Royal Mail earlier this year after 23 years service, because I didn't like the way they were treating their staff. At the time I never realised just how bad things were going to get.
Up until a few years ago, I would have said that being a postie was one of the best jobs you could get. OK, it wasn't particularly well paid, but you were out in the fresh air, meeting people and delivering an excellent service.
I remember it being a happy place to work. Then, along came Adam Crozier with his masterplan for the business. From there on in it was downhill rapidly.
Can anybody honestly say that they think the service that Royal Mail provides has improved over the past few years?
If you think it is bad as a customer, you would not believe what it has been like as an employee.
I still keep in touch with former colleagues at Leyland and cannot believe the level that morale has dropped to. The latest "initiative" is the introduction of delivery prams – one big trolley with the full delivery round inside. The poor posties are being made to work like some Third World farmer pushing his hand cart to market.
To add insult to injury, it doesn't make the service any more efficient – it was introduced to stop the posties getting back to the office before their official finishing time!
Terry Durney, address supplied
No sense in curfew
I believe it has been quoted that less that 1% of elderly people eligible to travel by concession after 11pm actually do so.
What, then, is the point of denying them the opportunity?
The savings are hardly going to provide a king's ransom.
This is just another go at hitting the people in society who are least able to afford it.
Bill Roberts, via email
Put the wind up him
I lost all respect for Sandy Lyle, one of Britain's golfing greats when he walked off the course at Royal Birkdale on day one of the British Open, because it was too windy.
What did he expect of a links course by the Lancashire coastline?
Golfing in these conditions sorts the men from the boys, a bit like taking a holiday up here.
To my way of thinking, Lyle's gale force winds constituted a bracing sea breeze.
Name and address supplied
The full article contains 606 words and appears in Wigan Evening Post newspaper.
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Last Updated:
22 July 2008 10:29 AM
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Source:
Wigan Evening Post
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Location:
Wigan