"S URFACE dressing. . . is a
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necessary part of highway maintenance which does rely on a surplus of chippings and the movement of traffic to push the chippings into the surface," says Northamptonshire Highways and Transportation Department in a seasonal warning.
Whatever happened to the road roller? Why should costly vehicles, not to mention people, be put at risk of damage or injury while they do the highway department's job? Is it for this that road users pay £9,000m a year more in tax than is spent on the roads?
As the Road Haulage Association has pointed out, there are only two countries — Switzerland and Ireland — where dery tax is higher than Britain's 15p a litre. When it conies to vehicle excise duty, Britain is unsurpassed. Only West Germany is within striking distance, hut its fuel tax is 20 per cent lower than in this country. The British road user loses all round.