I was driving to Billericay station from Stock early one morning and as I rounded a bend a van coming the other way swerved into my path.

Avoiding the van and looking in my mirror, I saw the next car was also taken by surprise.

It wasn’t a tree branch or a dog which caused the van to swerve, it was a child on a bike, presumably delivering papers.

While it is the drivers’ responsibility to be observant, surely no sane parent would let their child out without lights on their bike? Surely, newsagents also have a responsibility to check their young employees have lights.

Saying after the death of their child “they should have seen him” is just a little too late.

All for the sake of a few quid on some lights, especially as a large proportion of drivers seem to believe speed limits don’t count at that time of day, because there are never any police cars around.

Roger Watling
Common Lane
Stock