Sir – In the article New 20 limits criticised (October 22), you quote Mr McArthur Christie as saying ‘I’m already seeing more narrow squeaks where drivers are turning left across cyclists more than they used to because they are running parallel with cyclists’.

When using the middle lane of a motorway, drivers do not suddenly turn across traffic in the inside lane which is running parallel, they use their mirrors, adjust their speed, signal and filter into the inside lane turning when it is safe to do so. A cycle lane with cyclists in it should be treated in the same way. Indeed, the Highway Code says ‘stay behind if you are following a cyclist approaching a roundabout or junction, and you intend to turn left’.

Your other correspondent, Mr Strange, a driver instructor complains that pedestrians ‘walk out in front of cars’. It says in the Highway Code that motorists should, when turning left ‘give way to any vehicles using a bus lane, cycle lane or tramway from either direction’ and also that they should ‘give way to pedestrians crossing in front of them’.

I thought of this recently when I saw a 4x4-type vehicle blast its horn and accelerate at some poor unfortunate who had had the temerity to cross Beaumont Street. The furore kicked up by the motoring industry and drivers in general about the 20mph limit indicates only too well the selfishness of the car driver who sees everyone outside of their tin box as a nuisance who gets in their way. I would have thought a representative of RoSPA should be making clear the responsibility of car drivers to other road users and I am surprised a driving instructor condones speed as a device which implicitly controls other road users though fear, when he might be teaching vehicle control — how to drive efficiently at low speeds — and patience.

It can be frustrating to drive slowly when your vehicle is capable of so much more, but slower speeds save lives and will save fuel if the engine is not over-revved. We are all human beings, let’s recognise that and share space accordingly.

Ann Furtado, Oxford