Leave the useless husband out of it | Brief letters

Kenneth Clarke in Laura Kuenssberg’s documentary on Brexit (Last night’s TV, G2, 9 August) commented that “the referendum result was not simply about Europe”. Exactly so. It occurs to me that the success of the leave campaign’s bus message (“We send the EU £350m a week – let’s fund our NHS instead”) had little to do with Europe but indicates the high priority the electorate gives to more spending on the NHS. Our government might do well to recognise this.
Derek Gambell
Bromley, Kent

• No suggestions for an affordable holiday in the UK (Any answers?, Money, 13 August) but a question. Would you have published the sentence “if your useless husband had failed to book anything …” if the words had been “useless wife”? What does the style guide say?
Jennifer Henley
London

• Can it be true that one of the founders of this restaurant, where queueing is the norm, is named Wai Ting? Or is Marina O’Loughlin having us on (Weekend, 13 August)?
John Pilsbury
Wrexham

• There’s no need to go abroad to taste weird-flavoured ice-cream (Cheesy ice-cream takes Czech town by storm, 10 August). I tried a Blue Vinney cone overlooking Chesil Beach in Dorset a few years ago. I love blue cheese; I adore proper ice-cream; but one mouthful of this disgusting concoction was quite enough. Still, it helped me get my own back on the thieving seagull race. A hungry bird swallowed it whole and I swear there was a look of surprise on its face for a full two minutes. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch, eh?
Caroline Thomas
London

• Ian Watson (Letters, 13 August) is fully entitled to his controversial views on the quality of my singing but, just in case anyone is wondering, I would like to make clear that I am not the Mike Pender who was lead singer with the Searchers in the 60s.
Mike Pender
Cardiff

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

Leave the useless husband out of it | Brief letters

Cycle helmets are useless, says brain surgeon

“I see lots of men and women in bike accidents and these flimsy small helmets do not aid.”

Mr Marsh stated that he had been riding his bike for forty many years, sporting a cowboy hat, and had only fallen off after.

“I have been cycling for forty many years and have only been knocked off after. I put on a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. I seem totally mad.”

Marsh, who retires in March, also admitted jumping red lights to get ahead of the targeted traffic.

“It’s my life at threat,” he said, ‘So I routinely cross over red lights.”

Cyclists travel all around three.1 billion miles each and every 12 months in Britain. Lights and reflectors are a legal obligation after dark, and reflective jackets an more and more common sight.

But helmets are not compulsory in the Uk, in contrast to in Australia and components of the US, yet the government encourages cyclists to wear one particular.

Study carried out by Dr Ian Walker, a professor of targeted traffic psychology at the University of Bath, showed that motorists drove close to 8cm closer when overtaking cyclists with helmets.

He advised that drivers think helmeted cyclists are much more wise, predicable and seasoned, so consequently the driver isn’t going to need to have to give them significantly space when overtaking.

Non-helmeted cyclists, specially non helmeted “women” are significantly less predictable and seasoned, in accordance to this review and so motorists give them much more room.

Nevertheless, Mr Marsh’s remarks are most likely to anger cycling safety campaigners, who believe that helmets give crucial protection on Britain’s hectic and narrow roads.

James Cracknell, the Olympic rowing gold medalist, was virtually killed whilst cycling in 2010 following he was hit by a petrol tanker.

He has said that he only survived the accident because he had been wearing a helmet and has described individuals who do not wear one particular as “selfish” as their actions can effect their loved ones.

“From a personal point of see I would be dead if I hadn’t worn a helmet,” he mentioned. “A wing mirror smashed into my skull at 70mph.

“There is no downside to wearing a helmet except possessing messy hair. And you have to keep in mind that eight out of 10 children who have cycling accidents are not on the road.

“Even if you will not care enough about yourself to wear a helmet other people care about you.”

A Division of Transport examine has shown that helmets could prevent ten-sixteen per cent of cyclist fatalities, though this was also an estimate primarily based on a small study.

Angie Lee, Chief Executive of the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Believe in said: “I hope he is going to consider obligation for the cyclist who will get injured since they get their helmet off following his comments.

“This might be his opinion but there are a great deal far more neurosurgeons and surgeons who would counter that argument.

“My suggestions would be the identical as the Division of Transport’s which is that helmets have a spot in safeguarding the head.”

Marsh, who retires in March, also admitted jumping red lights to get ahead of the site visitors.

“It’s my life at danger,” he explained, ‘So I regularly cross in excess of red lights.”

Cycle helmets are useless, says brain surgeon