Sir - As I walked my children to school this morning, the first thing I noticed was much less traffic, driving much more slowly.

The second thing was a policeman standing by the side of the road, letting every driver know a speed trap was operating. (A prominent press photographer made it all the more obvious.)

The third was a total of four police cars, five policemen, plus a dedicated video presentation truck. The cost of failing to deter speeding must go some way to explaining the horrendous tax bill we have just received for the funding of the police.

How can it make sense to issue warnings that enforcement is taking place. I have even seen warnings placed by the roadside the previous day. Speeding is a potentially lethal offence, especially for children, yet it has seemingly become accepted, and worthy of only mild reproach, not serious punishment. Perpetrators get off with watching a video and promising not to be naughty again.

An 'accident' is something which cannot reasonably be prevented. When a child is (again) killed in our village, which even lacks pavement and footbridge in critical locations, it will be more a result of tolerating dangerous, illegal, and antisocial, behaviour, and placing the interests of the driver above those of the pedestrian. End the warnings. End the waste of our taxes on second, third, and fourth, chances. Surely the cheapest option is automated detection and truly deterrent sentences. Even 30mph is too fast outside a school, or, for that matter, in any residential or pedestrian area. We need a 20mph limit in such places, properly enforced, now.

Dr Ian East, Islip