I have had several near-misses on the ACT's roundabouts.
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Drivers think give way to the right is the rule. This is not the case, but I believe it should be, since most drivers confronted with roundabouts where there are give way signs at every entrance have little idea what they mean.
Technically they mean give way to the left and right. The official rule is that a driver first into a roundabout has complete right of way, since they have passed the give way sign in due recognition of whatever car might arrive at the roundabout subsequently.
In practice, a the driver of a car on your right some 50-100 metres from the roundabout, approaching at speed, often up to 80 km/hr, seems to think that although you have already entered the roundabout they have right of way because they are on your right.
I have often narrowly missed being cleaned up by drivers who apparently have this wrong idea.
I suggest that the 3-5 give way signs at such roundabouts be removed, and a give way to the right rule be re-established. In practice, this is what most drivers think anyway. I am yet to check roundabout accident statistics, but I suspect I will have no surprises.
Another aspect of roundabouts is the way drivers deal with two lanes. Two lane roundabouts are common. The same is true of two lanes that then merge on the follow on after exiting the roundabout.
The road rules are clear on this. The car in front has the right of way on a merge. But so often a following car will cut you off in the merge. Rules cannot control this.
There is also a relatively new rule which requires cars in the right lane to indicate either left or right; left to go ahead, or right to do the obvious. Very few drivers use the left option.
Greg Jackson, Kambah
What a disgrace
The lack of apparent Australian government interest and action to arrange for the safe evacuation from Syria to Australia of the 60 women and children is appalling.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne should travel to Ankara without delay and negotiate their safe passage, declaring she will not leave Turkey until done.
The lack of apparent Australian government interest and action to arrange for the safe evacuation from Syria to Australia of the 60 women and children is appalling. Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, should travel to Ankara without delay and negotiate their safe passage.
- Captain Harry Mansson AM, Avalon Beach, NSW
At the same time send another minister and/or her Deputy and our relevant ambassador to Damascus for the same purpose.
Captain Harry Mansson AM, Avalon Beach, NSW
False assertions
Contrary to comments by Dr Douglas Mackenzie (Letters, October 14) my assertion that global warming has been in steps during the last 200 years is clear from diagrams published in IPCC reports.
Since we have been in a warming trend in the last 200 years we are warming and are still warming. But, the assertion that the rate of warming has been steadily increasing is not true.
The rate of warming is expressed as a temperature gradient and has been the same in the different warming pulses since 1860 despite vastly different annual increases in carbon dioxide levels; namely around 0.16 C per decade (Professor Phil Jones-University of East Anglia).
Dr Douglas Mackenzie also takes exception to my statement about ice ages with carbon dioxide levels much higher than today. It is well documented that the Ordovician ice age (440 million years ago) had carbon dioxide levels around 4000 parts/million (ten times those of today) and the Mesozoic Ice age (174 million years ago) had carbon dioxide levels around 1,500-2,000 parts per million (4-5 times those of today).
In my letter, I was not referring to the recent cycle of eight ice advances in the last 800,000 years where, as Dr Mackenzie rightly states, carbon dioxide levels were lower than today. However, the Dome Charlie Ice core that was taken by French scientists whom I met when I was a scientist on a USA Antarctic expedition, gives us a record back to 800,000 years ago.
In that core and other Antarctic and Greenland ice cores, any rise in carbon dioxide levels post-dates rises in temperature.
Dr. Howard Brady, Casey
The UN is acting
Your editorial ("The UN is missing in action over Syria", canberratimes.com.au, October 16) overlooks the considerable work being done by UN agencies in the conflict.
It confuses the United Nations with the governments represented on the Security Council that alone have the power to enable the UN to act - or to veto such UN action.
For instance, the UN High Commission for Refugees has "deployed resources in response to this latest emergency to deliver life-saving support to displaced families, including safe shelter, food, medicine, water and core relief items". And this is after eight years of conflict which has the dubious record of being the world's current worst refugee crisis with 5.6 million displaced and rising.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has so far provided immediate food assistance to more than 70,000 people fleeing towns in north-eastern Syria as military operations continue.
The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) has been helping Syria prepare for the management of chemical air raids since 2012, at the same time as joining non-government organisations such the Red Cross, Médicine sans Frontier and others in the refugee camps and towns under attack.
And UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, has been caring for the needs of thousands of displaced children in the conflict.
Criticism of the world's inaction should be directed to the member governments, including Australia's, that, through the Security Council, are wholly responsible for political decisions. Thank goodness for the UN's caring agencies.
Ian Mathews, Garran
Cruising for a bruising
I read with interest the article "Slow roll-out for life-saving technology" (October 16, p8).
I also have major concerns in relation to safety in late model cars. To my knowledge, no one has addressed the following issues:
- The body material in cars is no longer always metal. Cars now crumple very quickly on impact. How effective are airbags as protective devices in an accident?
- It is not possible to see the front of many late model cars beyond the windscreen wipers. This makes it difficult to gauge the vehicle's position in relation to other cars, kerbs, white lines, traffic calmers, and other potential obstacles. It also makes parking more difficult, especially parallel parking.
When I commented on the latter to a car dealer, his response was, that today it's all about aerodynamics.
Elizabeth Blackmore, Holt
For and against
Articles in The Canberra Times on Saturday, October 12 (pages 30 and 31) by Sherryn Groch and Steve Evans gave opinions for and against the recent protests by Extinction Rebellion.
I find myself having some sympathy with both. But missing from Steven Evans's piece, and also from remarks by political leaders about having a mandate to set policy, is an acknowledgement that science is different from economics or other fields of study.
The results of scientific investigation are not options to be voted on as one might vote for a tax cut or workplace reform. Scientific forces will not hang around to listen to anyone's opinion or back off while we consult miners about jobs (important as these are).
Climate science tells us what will happen in response to chemical changes to the atmosphere according to the laws of nature. And it is settled enough to be sure we can expect the worst if we do not change our ways.
On this basis, climate change and what to do about it should be a bipartisan issue. Making it a polarising political issue has prevented effective action for over 30 years and has brought us to the current impasse. This is what Greta and the other pre-voting age/politically unaligned school students understand so well. Surely the natural thing to do is to pull out all stops to secure a safe future for children while caring properly for vulnerable people, including those who need to transition to new jobs. Is this really so hard?
Janet Salisbury, Yarralumla
Sophistry fail
Bill Deane (Letters, October 14) engages in both sophistry and semantics when he tries to downplay the importance of the phrase "terra nullius" because the term wasn't used officially until the second half of the 20th century.
Its real significance is that today we understand clearly that it refers to the white attitude regarding native possession that existed in Cook's time and later, upon the arrival of the First Fleet (despite Phillip being instructed to treat the natives fairly).
The period the phrase came into common usage is therefore immaterial to the facts it supports, as confirmed by the Mabo decision in 1992 when the High Court, in effect, overturned the 1977 Aboriginal restitution claim referred to by Bill Deane.
Eric Hunter, Cook
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