CORRESPONDENCE.

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 14, 30 August 1928, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

* -— LEAGUE OF NATIONS. (To the Editor). Sir, —Last Sunday morning I was one •of those privileged to hear a most impressive address from the Rev. J. Black--burne on the subject of the league of nations. Realising as we all must do ■the truth of the speaker's remarks when, he said that the league was the most .potent supporter of peace, I feel that the time is opportune for the formation of a •branch of the league in this district. In %iew of the fact that His Worship the Mayor was at the service in Ms official v capacity as Chief Citizen, I should ...ike to suggest that he is the most suitable person to inaugurate a branch here, and that he should call a public meeting at an early date to do so. —I am etc., J. HITCH.

CYCLISTS ON BITUMEN. (To the Editor). Sir, —Your correspondent "A. Broad,'' srubmits no argument for the exclusion ■of cyclists from bitumen roads. "If he was able to do so, his argument would apply to all roads, and, if there were reason in it, the manufacture of bicycles would automatically cease, as there would be no further use for them. There is no occasion to differentiate between a bitumen road and any other kind of road, so long as it is a public thoroughfare. If it is dangerous for cyclists to ride on bitumen, it is equally dangerous for them to ride anywhere—in Manners street on a Friday night, for example. "Would anyone have the effrontery to suggest that cyclists should not be allowed to ride in Manners street,

But where does the danger lie. How .many people are Mlled, injured, or even knocked down by cyclists? How many road accidents are caused, directly or indirectly, by cyclists? If cycling on a public road is dangerous, as M. Bru'id alleges it to be, then it is the dangerous person who ought to be eliminated, and not his potential victim. ~lf a man goes anad, the rest of the community is not left in a state of apprehension lest lie run amuck with a shot gun or a tomahawk. He is promptly taken away r.o a place where he cannot do any harm. A.

good many motorists, I regret to say, ought to be there too.

Mr. Broad says that cyclists are in "real" danger when cars are passing one another. Of course they are. But who causes the danger ; Not the cyclist, certainly. A. motorist has no .right to pass another veliicle unless there is a clear road for a reasonable distance ahead. That rule is broken by motorists every day, on bitumen and off it, and is one of the most frequent causes of accidents, as Mr. Broad must know. Another elementary rule of road conduct that many motorists do not observe is the practice of " cutting in" immediately they have passed another vehicle. Here again, the cyclist is in danger, through no fault of Sob. If those motorists who are continually complaining about cyclists would ase more common sense, more courtesy, md Less speed, our roads would be safer for all of us, and it is to all of us they belong, not merely to the motorist. Cyclists ask for no' special privileges, but they do insist on a fair share of the Toad, bitumen or otherwise. —I am etc., ALFRED E. MILNE, Hon. See. Cyclists' Touring Club.