Mark behaviour of pedestrians

A reader urges town planners to take into account pedestrian behaviour while planning to build roads and bridges,. Other topics: cycle to work, Charlie Hebdo, accidents

A reader urges town planners to observe pedestrian behaviour to be able to build safer roads. Ravindranath K / The National

I refer to the news report Jaywalkers on road to disaster (January 11). Urban planning studies done decades ago showed that people walk, cross or create logical paths based on surrounding businesses, homes and so on. Transportation and urban planners would do well to observe pedestrian behaviour and plan accordingly.

Hazel Lynn Singer, US

Charlie Hebdo’s latest move achieves nothing

The decision by Charlie Hebdo to publish millions of copies of a special edition this week with a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed on its cover is again a silly provocation that achieves nothing positive (Charlie Hebdo stays controversial in first issue after attacks, January 14).

It is definitely not the outcome Muslim participants in the Paris march were hoping for. France and the West should put an end to such infringements on the sanctity of all prophets and messengers for God through appropriate blasphemy laws.

Ahmoodi, Dubai

In the opinion article Warped view of Paris killers makes targets of us all (January 13), Faisal Al Yafai depicts Charlie Hebdo as a far-right wing anti-Muslim fascist newspaper. It is exactly the contrary. Charlie is viewed in France as one of the furthest left-wing satirical newspapers.

By publishing all these provocative and offensive materials, it seeks to fight against all forms of obscurantism, extremism and radicalism. It fights for the fundamental value of freedom and seeks to uphold the main asset of the French Republic: secularism. Its main weapon is laughter.

They laugh at all forms of extremism. The more the enemies react to cartoons, the more Charlie continues. But let me clarify that in no way did the newspaper mock at millions of people practising a moderate, peaceful and beautiful religion.

So please don’t label Charlie Hebdo as simply brainless anti-Muslim media.

With the sentence “Europe has a history of first turning the pen on minorities before also turning the gun,” is the writer suggesting that France is going to take up arms against the Muslim community? I do not deny that there are a lot of integration problems, racism, anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish feelings in France. However, France still remains a peaceful and warm host for a lot of communities from around the world.

With our pencils, we will continue to irritate, provoke, disturb, disrespect, annoy and make fun of those who share the ideas of those murderers.

In the end, I express my warmest thanks to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed for attending the Paris march on Sunday. I’m so proud of my host country.

Chris Gilles, Dubai

Include regular cyclists in picture

With reference to your editorial A thank you to all who did #cycletoworkUAE(January 14), I cycled to work yesterday. On my way to work I saw many blue-collar workers cycling, and I realised they cycle out of necessity as a mode of transportation and not necessarily as a way to exercise.

They have been cycling the streets of Abu Dhabi for as long as I can remember and I’ve been here for 16 years. No one has ever paid any attention to them and they have never asked for designated cycling paths. Yet, there seems to be very few accidents involving these cyclists. They have found their way around the streets of Abu Dhabi to keep safe.

Cynthia Harb, Abu Dhabi

Weather doesn’t cause mishaps

The car pileup is not surprising (Massive pile-up on Abu Dhabi road as fog reduces visibility, January 8). This is what happens when people drive carelessly, which is what we see everyday. One who drives fast is not a good driver; one who drives with care is.

Ana Kennel, Abu Dhabi

These accidents will always happen because of drivers’ mentality and their lack of common sense. Do not blame the weather.

Norman Pineda Iliscupidez, Abu Dhabi

If people would drive more carefully and be more considerate to other road users, these accidents can be averted. Do not use mobile phones, reduce speed, keep your distance and use indicators.

Mylene Davis-Zijlstra, Abu Dhabi