Madam, - I am in favour of almost anything that will help to reduce congestion on the roads, but I find the idea of allowing buses to use hard shoulders bizarre (Motors, January 5th).
The whole idea of hard shoulders is to remove the hazard of disabled vehicles from fast-moving traffic. So why re-introduce the danger by allowing buses to travel on them?
It is widely accepted in the UK that hard shoulders (which are for emergency use only) are the most dangerous places to be on motorways; recent statistics there show that 12 people are killed and hundreds more are injured every year in accidents on hard shoulders. As a result, occupants of vehicles stopped on them are advised to get well away from their vehicles.
How many people will die before the powers that be realise the folly of this idea? - Yours, etc.,
CHRIS COGGINS, Stillorgan Wood, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.