I HAVE followed with interest the letters regarding traffic (Warrington Guardian, May 3).

The thread of your correspondents’ argument is that by removing constraints at junctions and allowing car drivers to do their own thing, flow would improve.

As with many populist ideas it looks appealing at first glance.

Gary Bebbington suggests allowing left turns at red lights under caution for example.

But what happens to pedestrians who rely on this break in traffic to cross the road? I doubt if the driver storming around the bend will be in a position to stop for the elderly or the mother with a pram.

Our townscapes are not just the preserve of cars, though it’s sometimes hard to believe.

George McKie is miffed that the council spends money on drop kerbs rather than roadworks, yet a third world ‘free for all’ at junctions would require expensive works to preserve some semblance of safety for walkers, cyclists etc.

Gary tells us he has done a lot of driving in Thailand, going 190kms with only one set of lights – well I rode 35,000km in west Africa and didn’t see even one.

It’s irrelevant, but the example of Thailand is unfortunate to say the least.

According to the World Health Organisation it has the second most deadly roads on the planet, 12 times more dangerous than the UK.

Gary states that it has good traffic flow despite having ‘three times as many cars as the UK’.

This is simply untrue, it has only 63 per cent of UK car numbers, not 300 per cent more.

But let’s not allow facts to get in the way of anecdote and opinion.

Let’s switch off the lights for a day and see what happens but tell me so I can warn my family and friends to stay indoors and please, pick a quiet day in A and E.

ALLAN RALSTON Warrington