Letter: A fast car is not a dangerous car

PETER CROOKSTON shamelessly rehashes the age-old non sequitur that motoring journalists glorify the notion of speeding and somehow incite disaffected youths to indulge in the crime of 'joyriding' ('Fatal legacy of a lust for speed', 31 January).

His 'evidence' is a tongue-in- cheek passage written by myself in Performance Car magazine. This pointed out that some cars not normally associated with high performance - and therefore rarely stolen - can give much- maligned 'hot hatches' a run for their money. I made no mention of top speed - an irrelevance in the UK - but stressed that these offer impressive mid-range acceleration, which makes for safe overtaking.

Had your writer put this passage into context, he would have reported that the article formed part of an issue devoted to advising readers how to pick cars which are still enjoyable but are not theft targets - and as such are cheaper to insure. Our readers are sick of paying mortgage-sized premiums because the Government does little to prevent crime; nave newspaper reports blaming magazines and advertisements do nothing to help.

To imply that people read Performance Car then go out joyriding is a double insult: our readers own the very cars the low- life keep stealing.

Like most traffic police, we recognise that there is a world of difference between 80-90mph on a dry, empty motorway or rural B- road away from villages and Crookston's 'yowling through suburban streets at twice the legal speed'. To quote our December 1992 issue, 'the skill of safe driving is to recognise when it's time to slow down'.

Mark Bishop

Performance Car

Peterborough, Cambs