I am writing in response to K Brown (‘Cycle more to live longer’, Opinion, September 17).

If he believes everything he reads in an overseas study, that is his choice. I prefer to form an opinion from facts, such as the following: car owners pay car tax, petrol tax, VAT on insurance and maintenance of the vehicle, income tax and council tax. Multiply these amounts by 30 million car-owners and we have a very large amount of money used for the benefit of all UK residents.

Therefore, until Mr Brown provides a detailed breakdown of his £1,500 per annum subsidy for each car met by the wider society, I will continue to disbelieve.

Reflecting more closely on air quality, Enfield Borough Council’s 2012 air quality action plan states all we need to know about the causes of air pollution. It is created mainly by road traffic and domestic, commercial and industrial activities.

In 2008, it was estimated that 4,000 residents in London and 30,000 across the UK died from its effects and life expectancy reduced by seven to eight months.

The most polluting vehicles are vans and HGVs, buses, then cars, in that order. The highest concentrations of pollution are along the busiest roads in Enfield, with the A406 the most polluted.

The plan examines various options for reducing air pollution and favours more use of low-emission vehicles, phasing traffic signals to reduce congestion and encouraging cycling and walking instead of using the car.

Apart from the use of more low-emission vehicles, I am not convinced that enough is being done to improve air quality because high-polluting commercial vehicles and buses remain in large numbers.

There would be greater impact if diesel fuel was replaced with petrol, buses were replaced by electric trolley buses where possible, and bus lanes that create congestion were removed along with traffic restrictions in residential areas that force more traffic on to overloaded major roads.

The Mayor of London boasts about spending a billion pounds on cycle highways for a minority group of road-users. It would be better spent on resurrecting the plan for widening the A406, which was abandoned by his predecessor.

Frightening people into riding a bike does not exempt them from breathing toxic air. Cyclists are closer and more vulnerable to exhaust fumes than drivers inside their cars.

G A Musey

Mitchell Road, Palmers Green