Having had his sister and brother-in-law killed in a motorcycle accident (Argus, December 12), the grief of Richard Thorpe is fully understandable but his anger is wrongly directed.

Britain's roads are now so congested the motorist who can go his entire life without a minor shunt of some description is the rare exception rather than the rule. Because of modern car safety, such accidents result in nothing more sinister than crumpled bodywork, frayed tempers and loss of a no-claim bonus. In the bulk of accidents the police are not even involved.

However, literally hundreds of people have been killed or seriously injured because motorcycle manufacturers promote their machines as an environmentally friendly method of getting young people away from dependence on public transport.

The truth is that the motorcycle guarantees death or injury in the most trivial of accidents.

If a member of my family was ever killed on a motorcycle, I too would want vengeance against the car driver. However, deep down I would know that there but for the grace of God goes every single car driver in the country.

-Stuart Bower, Hawkhurst Road, Brighton