I READ with interest the contents of your article Campaign to Cut Bike Death and felt the need to reply. My husband is a 'biker' and he rides with other like-minded people but he has had the misfortune to have been involved in three accidents.

These were a result of the condition called 'SMIDSY'. This is a very serious and unfortunately can be a fatal disease that affects pedestrians and road users alike. The common name is 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You'.

I am one of the first to agree that there are riders out there who ride recklessly and endanger themselves and other road users, just as there are car drivers, lorry drivers and cyclists.

Are there going to be any Drive Safe campaigns that target only the lorry drivers, car drivers etc?

Are there going to be any 'Bike Safe' campaigns that target drivers, as most bike accidents are not the fault of the riders? How many bikers use a mobile phone when riding or try to find that tape/CD under their seat while riding on our streets?

How many bikers are too busy chatting to their pillion to look where they are going? What percentage of drivers looks for bikes?

If motorcyclists make up only 1% of our traffic why do they seem to be targeted more than anyone else on our roads?

Am I to assume that if a car and a bike are speeding the bike is the one that the police will stop and prosecute?

Maybe one of the answers is that before anyone is allowed in the drivers' seat of a car they do at least six months on a bike or moped?

Another thing that might reduce the number of accidents is if our roads were repaired promptly and regularly.

If a bike or a moped hits a pothole they are more than likely to come off and suffer some sort of injury.

A thought for us all when we travel home at night in our cars is how many times have we not remembered part of the trip home? It seems to me an awful lot of us suffer from 'Smidsy'.

Remember when you drive on our roads to think once, think twice, think bike.

Ride and drive safely.

Name and address supplied.