THE HERALD WtoeIy LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Reader questions police policy of no sirens This letter sent to The Herald for publication Mr Skerrett Chief Constable Hal ton Regional Police While Oak Oakville Ontario Dear Sir On Thursday August at approximately I was driving my car West on No Highway in the village Two fire department les had passed me travelling East These vehicles were seen because of size Traf fie was moderate in both dir at this time with child ren on btevdes and Wans moving freely about no doubt drawn by these fire vehicles A few seconds later I had turned the bend the West end of and realized that what I presumed were two police cruisers were coming towards me travelling In the traffic lane and it appeared trying to pull out of their line of traffic and pass Highway No at this point is two lanes with soft shoulders and a curbstone being near a and park entrance There was a very bright bun in a clear sky low on the horizon situation which made it difficult to tell whether or not the cruisers had their flashing red roof llohts on In fact only the fact that these roof lights were fitted enabled me to decide they were in fact emergency No siren could be heard and In Met no siren sound was heard as they passed me There were vehicles travelling two go about lis necessary driver Later enquiries confirmed thai he bit Morning devices and that policy of your Police force Is not to so equip the said police vehicles with any audible war ning device other than a automobile horn I would that an fenced Police Officer would have the to that under any given number of road and weather conditions visual emergency signal is not always adequate unless sup plemented with on audible signal of a siren or another device to worn traffic of the presence of such vehicles with a need obtain road clear to afford free passage lo On an open highway a regu tor type siren sound docs not carry loo and is most effective usually only In urban ureas where buildings can re fleet the sound but for your covering a large area which Is open highway there arc good electronic signals available which can be heard over most terrain and traffic If your Force policy Is one of use of audible emergency signals I must wonder the obvious lack of intelligent thinking which has prompted this decision particularly when the law puis specific rights and obligations on other road users to afford free pas sage lo such vehicles when brought to their by tint this hi last of of i IKnirimenl iml rf and hap policy of of I I Proper Monopoly function strike right must be reviewed and changed To the editor of The Herald The recent trailers strike has once again raised discussion on the larger subject of strikes in essential services however that may be defined Last was the inside postal workers While all fair minded people would agree that legal strikes are an established part of the collective bargaining process that the worker has the right to protect himself economically and that all workers should have the same rights without discrimination there Is ob viously general and serious public concern about the of strikes In some areas Those areas tcrisbcally Involve the deadly combination of a virtually monopoly function the right to strike Thev have serious effects on the expenses and convenience of Individual people on businesses and on the economy In general They involve areas such as the public service transportation communication and security They can result In serious civil disorder and economic loss While most contract negotiations in both the private and public sectors have been settled without strike action or losl time strikes In these crucial areas have had devaslatmg effects in recent years This was not what the government had in mind when with Hie best or intentions it legislated the right tostrikc for these groups a few vcars ago r has I It in future tolerate or permit serious harm to the public from such strikes and loss of essential services especially those in the government sector The public has made It clear that It simply will not stand or It The economy has mode it clear that it simply cannot stand for it What to do then It is not easy or pleasant to remove a right once It has been granted even though this may be necessary The alternative is some other acceptable collective bargaining mechanism to replace the strike such as binding or nitration or the last best offer Governments have been seeking such an answer for some time Some people believe that it is Impossible to legislate against legal strikes because they will only become illegal strikes or other disruptions I suppose this is one of the tests of a modern civilized industrial nation But surely If govern has be continually legislating workers back to work each and every time a strike is colled to keep order in the country it would be better to know beforehand that the strike is not a permitted of the ground rules Surely overwhelming public opinion can appeal to the inherent sense of rcspon or our unions of both their rank an file members as well as their leaders At any role with more such strikes anticipated in the essential services the inside postal workers Iran groups and perhaps others this subject will undoubtedly continue lo be a hot topic for discussion In caucus Parliament and among public over the next few years Most people do not wont their essential services disrupted Neither do I I would appreciate hearing my constituents views cither in direct correspondence or the media so that I may represent you even more effectively on this crucial subject in Ottawa Yours sincerely Frank A Member of Parliament Hal ton by devices Your policy Is ting of these directives or at viry least placing les in he way of other road is rensiii for lla users and the emergency veh of Point icle driver in this case the first eoncern Us constable in carrying out sen or officer must be sins obligations and 1 would itli mil lit Put kids working for local groups To the of The lletding tin article I- yearolds register with Man power 1 want to express my feelings about this new Child Labour by Government I can sec how this official in come up wiih o of placements in or fantastic How about f mcntofsomedogsnndcils Is hat right use of our l minted taxpayer dear lo help cm pi J children floes a child think this have to be paid for every little job he she iluei for some kids tit body else who posslblly can el not afford it at all If like to do jobs inee i policy which will ittt to the safety of both lis ptrsi on duly and other road users lawfully I Your present policy regard inj emergency warn sifin ils liaves much in my mind is to both the direction and being if a siren Is attached of the police vehicle rain cause of fled Halloa Regional Police Is of few forces without the siren of audible emergency leg is sir picking rithtr thin plav iivIm the up if pit Im with s lb low project hi ion Police Officers merits arc requested Yours truly Harrison Wood of District 1 Ha Hon Reg lotial l lice no id the pro of equipping police vehicles with warning ore staled In llarrlioo Wood letter However by a siren It trnili give police officers false seme of It that motorics will hear the siren and veer out the path thr police vehicle rrjular type of walling Inn a Mated In the does not earry too well and said would be hear he siren but drivers may not In most case- it is not for poller officers to i he limit Ihere- re siren is not needed said J Kohan D T J Novak DT Georgetown Denture therapy Clinic HERALD CLASSIFIEDS HELP HUNT HOT BUYERS CALL 8772201 Dr PW Wishes To Announce That DR BRIAN Is Associating With Him In The Practice Of General 8775389 11 If you have an older furnace or had problems with your furnace last winter chances are you re going to be lelt out in the cold this winter and singing the worn out furnace blues But Union Gas can help Union Gas can install a beautiful economical ultramodern natural gas furnace before winter even gets here And that will keep you and your as snug as a bug in a rug And you know something Natural Gas is about the most economical and smartest way to heat your home Itssocleanburntng so comfortable and thanks to a simple little pipe natural gas is always there when you need it Winter Is just around the corner So mon call Union Gas All you have to lose are those worn out furnace blues union ghs CallUnlonGas WORLDWIDE SHORTAGE OF HONDAS HTIS CANADA 1 HONDA Were not hai lo net Its tnie that more people want Hondas than we can make and ship to Honda dealers When we designed the Civic we wanted to please a lot of people So lor penny pinchers we made it ran for miles and miles or kilometers and kilometei on Regular grade gasoline For engineering buffe wo equipped I Civic with the latest refinements For those who drive for fun its designed to be illicit and easy clean and crisp Put all these people together worldwide and weve sold a lot of cars So many that a temporary shortage forces us to ask to wait a few weeks for delivery On the other hand would you ever want a car Im which there was a worldwide surplus Hmmm Put a smile on your face Drive a Honda Baz Motors Limited 1 Guelph St Georgetown Ontario L76 4A8 8775286 or 6761813 I