Are the West Yorkshire Police Authority failing?

Terry Watsons letter in the Yorkshire Evening Post about why we have speed bumps, separate bus lanes and all the street furniture to keep the motorist in check. There is a need for speed bumps and chicanes because the police have chosen the easy way out and rely on speed cameras, which do not catch enough bad drivers. Speed cameras in the surrounding counties of Washington, USA. are going stealth, they are disguised as post boxes. Our bright yellow marked speed cameras just stop motorist speeding in one location, we need motorist to drive at or below the speed limit everywhere. But because the Police fail to make the roads safer, that means that the council must attempt to make our highways safer with changes to the road layout, because the police have given up and thrown in the towel.

The number of police officers dedicated to enforcing road traffic laws has fallen by 21 per cent in recent years as cheaper roadside cameras became increasingly popular. Now that we have invested millions in roadside speed camera and changes in the road layout, prosecutions in magistrates’ courts for driving without due care and attention has fallen by a third. Perhaps this is just a problem in West Yorkshire, because over in Greater Manchester their road causality rate is much better. The road casualty accident rate in West Yorkshire is 40.37 per 100,000 of population, over in Greater Manchester – their rate is 28.91, a massive difference.

The same issue can also be seen with Police Community Support Officers, PCSOs are mostly provided by councils, yet the West Yorkshire Police Authority should be making the streets safer, not the council. Why is the West Yorkshire Police Authority failing on both counts?

Increasing train fares

Although times are difficult, with almost zero wage increases, I can understand why people complain about rising prices. And the 6.2% price rise on the railways is more than inflation. But the trains are still good value, as can be seen by how popular they are. I don’t travel by trains that much, but when I have, the fare has been cheaper than travelling by bus or car. Taking the train costs between 10-30p per mile, which compares favourably with the bus and the car. The only time that cars win out, is when the car is not used by just one person. But since many car journeys are short and have just one occupant, the train often works out better option if the destination of the journey is served by the railways.

Horizon – The health benefits of fasting

Although many people seem to consider programs like Horizon boring and switch over and watch something more entertaining, the episode on BBC2 Mon 06 Aug, was really very interesting and would be beneficial for all our over weight and unhealthy citizens to watch. It showed the host Dr Michael Mosley looking to the connection between Diet and Health. Dr Mosley talked to the 101 year old Marathon runner who said “In poor countries people die of starvation, in rich countries they die of overeating.” Research has shown that in the 1930s depression in the United States the mortality rate decreased and life expectancy surprisingly increased.

The programs main point was that, being hungry is good for you. The program delved into the health benefits of three different diets, but the one that I found most appealing was the 5/2 diet (the one Dr Mosley is still doing). Fasting (women 400-500 kcal and men 500-600 kcal) for 2 days and eating normally the other 5. Preliminary trials with overweight subjects are showing promising results including weight loss, lower levels of bad cholesterol and fats in their blood, and decreased blood pressure. Dr Moseley paid a visit to Dr Mark Mattsen from the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore, USA. He has conducted animal experiments on intermittent fasting and has found that it postpones the development of Alzheimer’s and senile dementia like diseases. He also met up with Professor Valter Longo at the University of Southern California. Prof Longo was doing experiments with mice; he said that if similar health benefits were applied to humans, they would live for the equivalent of 120 human years and not suffer from diabetes or cancer! The program can still be watched on the BBC iplayer, so watch it and take the challenge. I am currently doing a the 2/5 diet, consuming 600 calories on two week days and eating normally the other five.