HOW can Mr A Emberton, manager of Lancashire Constabulary's central ticket office liken a motorist driving at 35mph to a drunk driver (Letters, May 9)?

As it was put 'speeding a little,' in my and, I am sure, many responsible drivers' opinions, does not compare with drink driving.

Indeed, accelerating out of a possible hazardous situation can, in certain circumstances, be just as safe as applying your brakes. If anyone disagrees with this then ask the opinion of an advanced driving instructor. In other words, at times it can be safer to 'speed a little.'

However, it is not just speeding that kills. A few years ago a friend of mine tragically hit and killed a young child who ran from behind a parked car. When the police investigated the accident, the driver was found to be travelling at just over 20mph.

Statistics show that the bodies, mutilations etc, which Mr Emberton saw on a daily basis are not caused by motorists who 'speed a little.' They are caused by drink-driving, excessive speed, joy riders, high-speed pursuits and the like.

I would like Mr Emberton to provide figures of the fatalities and serious accidents there have been in the past 10 years on a stretch of the A666 between the traffic lights at the new motorway intersection in Darwen and the motorway bridge that crosses the A666, under which a mobile speed camera is frequently sited during peak traffic times and, from these figures, show how many have been caused by motorists 'speeding a little.'

If it was about saving lives, why don't the police target the accident black spots in the area such as Grane Road and Belmont Road and perhaps the public could begin to believe and have faith in the police and their attitude towards road safety instead of the 35mph easy-target, money-making motorists?

DAVID GROGAN, Duckworth Street, Darwen.