FREQUENTLY when an incident with an undesirable ending to it occurs on the road or elsewhere and the police are involved it always appears to be portrayed that the police are the ones at fault, which I think is unjustified.

Several years ago, my daughter and I on foot were attempting to cross a dual carriageway at a designated crossing in south London with the traffic approaching from the left. Hearing a siren coming from our right we looked and saw a police vehicle pursuing a car the wrong way down the dual carriageway towards us. The audible and visible warning of the police vehicle made the approaching cars slow down and move to each side leaving a gap in the middle, reducing the risk of collision.

If it had not been for the visible presence of the patrol car, the offending driver would have been more likely to collide with oncoming traffic, as there would have been no warning to enable drivers to slow down and react accordingly. Much to my daughter's horror I did in fact walk onto the crossing directly in front of the offender's car and took a chance that he would not run me over, which paid off as it slowed him right down and he was apprehended. A satisfactory conclusion.

Had my judgement proved wrong and the offender had run me over, my daughter or I would not have suddenly decided to blame the police for pursuing a vehicle down the dual carriageway the wrong way. In the case of incidents with unpreferred conclusions, I think that the emphasis on blame should remain on the offender and not be shifted to the police.

Mrs G Martin, Gibbons Fields, Mullion