HAVING read the letter by Rev David Kennedy (January 16) on speed cameras I am not surprised that no-one is going to church any more. It was like a throwback to the 18th century when the church used to bully the uneducated and rule by fear.

He can't have read many letters in this paper or he would know that 90 per cent have been against speed cameras but of those people 100 per cent are in favour of road safety initiatives.

Speed cameras are a money making scheme -- simple as that, even the opposition party has worked that out and local MP Nigel Evans was on TV this week saying as much.

The number of cars on the road has increased by what must be a hundred fold in the last 30 years and yet deaths on the road have not increased in anything like that proportion if at all. Ever thought this might be because of driver awareness and common sense?

In my experience, drivers drive at around 20 to 25mph in low gear around side streets and schools and concentrate even more, knowing that the responsibility is theirs as an adult and not the mind of a young child.

The main danger on the road is people driving stolen and uninsured cars as they have no responsibility whatsoever because they cannot be traced like poor old honest Joe public can, but what do the police do when your car is stolen -- give you an inquiry number for your insurance company.

Even the Government are about to announce an about turn on 12 points equalling a ban because they would lose millions in petrol tax, VAT and PAYE if people lose their jobs en masse.

They would also have to pay benefits to these unemployed people. So someone has worked out they need to get rid of the 12 point ban but they don't of course want to lose the money from the fines. I think that tells us all we need to know.

The best approach for the Road Safety Partnership would be to appeal to the public's common sense and treat them like adults. In the last 20 years this has been incredibly effective for drink-driving but of course it would not make as much money.

I think it's time the Church added an 11th commandment for the modern era -- "Don't take the public for suckers."

DEREK POWER , Aspen Fold, Oswaldtwistle.