AFTER reading your story and Opinion 'Hound Death Race Bikers Off The Road' (LET, May 21), I am compelled to say what a load of rubbish your editorial was.

I have been a biker for over 30 years and both my wife and I have been regular visitors to Devil's Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale. We have never heard of, or witnessed, any pre-arranged races which you and the police claim take place.

I admit that there is a minority of idiots who do ride too fast. But this is a very small percentage compared to car, lorry and coach drivers, who blatantly ignore speed limits on trunk roads and motorways, not to mention their kamikaze driving habits in fog and other bad driving conditions.

In a recent major insurance survey, it was admitted that motorcycle riders are by far the safest drivers on the road today. This is because they are more aware of other road users than the average car driver. Again, statistics prove that over 70 per cent of all accidents involving motorcycles are caused by other road users. I was at Devil's Bridge the weekend before last and witnessed the totally over-the-top policing operation. I counted four laser speed traps on a 20-mile stretch of the A65 alone, plus another two on the Lancaster-to-Kendal road.

These were supported by numerous vehicles of all shapes and sizes bristling with blue flashing lights and bulging with 'on overtime' police officers. God only knows what this ill-conceived operation cost the taxpayer.

As for the farmers you mention, these are the people who cover the road with mud and other unpleasant slippery substances, giving two and four-wheel drivers no chance when they pull out of fields and farmyards with absolutely no regard for anybody else.

Motorcycling has been going through a renaissance during the last couple of years, with sales increasing by up to 40 per cent annually. The reason is that motorcycling is all about enjoyment, freedom, excitement and comradeship - in fact, everything that driving a tin box (a car) does not have.

If you must write about traffic issues, then look no further than Duckworth Street in Darwen - now, that is a disaster.

PETER WILSON-MAYOR, Bosley Close, Darwen.

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