Driving in bus lanes is no trivial offence

While Marcel Berlins (G2, September 3) makes compelling points re discrepancies between high fines for misuse of rubbish bins and low penalties for violent assaults or using a mobile phone while driving, his assumption that driving in a bus lane represents a small interference in traffic flow fails to understand the significance of this offence.

Bus lanes are almost always bus and cycle lanes. Motorists who use them generally do so to undertake stationary traffic, presenting an increased risk to cyclists (who assume they won't be closely overtaken at speed in bus/cycle lanes), as well as pedestrians and turning cars. Failure to enforce the lanes increases perceived risk for cyclists and pedestrians, reducing take-up of healthier and greener transport modes. Oh yes, and a delayed bus inconveniences dozens of individuals.

Marcel's fine legal mind could be better employed in exploring the bizarre discrepancies between trivial penalties for deliberate and dangerous driving (meekly defined as "without due care and attention") and the vengeful custodial sentences now planned for those whose illegal driving kills or injures. Society should be removing dangerous drivers from the road before they kill.
Cllr Simon Welsh

If there is a black hole in Transport for London's finances it is one that Boris Johnson's policies are helping to create (Inflation-plus hike in London travel fares, September 4). He has already lost out on about £40m a year by scrapping the £25 charge for gas-guzzling vehicles and will lose another £70m if he scraps the western congestion charge zone.
Darren Johnson AM
Green, London assembly