I WAS not surprised to read a recent Daily Echo report (A Costly Camera, January 4) that more speeding fines are imposed on drivers using Wessex Way than any other roadway in Dorset, for not long ago I was fined £100 for exceeding by seven miles an hour a maximum 40mph stretch of this busy thoroughfare.

To retain possession of my driving licence, I had moreover to pay an additional £20 to attend a live driver awareness class, it being emphasised this would do much to help improve my driving skills.

Much to my disappointment, however, this did not turn out to be the case, because despite the hard work, courtesy and friendliness of the two instructors, the content of the course was quite inappropriate.

Not only was there an erroneous assumption that those fined were necessarily compulsive speeding offenders when in fact almost everyone in the class had only erred because of a momentary loss of concentration at the wheel or because they hadn’t been able to afford expensive radar detection equipment fitted to their dashboards, but flagrant speeding by rat runners in notorious cut through’s like Crabton Close Road in Boscombe or close to primary schools in 20 mph controlled zones like Talbot Drive in Poole continues to be ignored (no traffic calming measures like cameras let alone speed bumps there) by Dorset Police.

When will our priorities get more thorough attention?

JEREMY MAY

Julyan Avenue, Poole