THERE are two things about electric cars (Letters, December 4 & 7) which are rarely discussed. The first concerns the problems first responders have at the scene of an accident. It takes 10 minutes for the capacitor to discharge before the emergency services can take action. Dangers are also present from the high-voltage components which require special PPE to be worn. Lifting the vehicle can be dangerous because of the location of the battery and should the battery burst that is even more hazardous. (Search "Nissan Leaf first responders" for a 38-page document on the subject.)
The second thing is the effect of electromagnetic radiation on health. More than 20 years ago I bought a Mark 1 Renault Scenic, which had the starting battery under the driver's seat. When wearing a heart rate monitor, it wouldn't work. Contacting the monitor's manufacturer I was told this was caused by the location of the battery. If a small 12-volt battery can have this effect I wonder what effect a large 300-volt battery can have on human health when seated inches above it?
William Loneskie, Lauder.
YOUR correspondent M J Carr (Letters, November 7) paints a fine picture of the web of electric cables needed to charge EVs. More disturbing will be the extensive roadworks needed in many streets to strengthen the electricity distribution network. Look forward to years of noise and disruption.
Malcolm Parkin, Kinross.
A LAMENT FOR ALLISS
IT was deeply saddening to read of the passing of the unique Peter Alliss ("Stars pay tribute as legendary ‘voice of golf’ Alliss dies, aged 89", The Herald, December 7).
Peter was literally the voice of golf for decades. His depth of knowledge and relaxed delivery made everyone feel that he was having a social chat with just them. However, he was not afraid to call out those who he believed were damaging the game he loved.
I had the privilege of meeting him some years ago at a PGA Assistants Championship dinner. He was the main speaker at the dinner on a day when the golf had to be suspended due to gales blowing balls off the greens. Peter was commentating at a tour event 200 miles away and a helicopter had been arranged to fly him to Southport. Many would have refused to fly but Peter insisted on going as he would not dream of letting others down. He made the dinner and after a wonderfully entertaining speech spent almost an hour chatting to guests and golfers and signing autographs. That is the measure of a wonderful man.
He joins Bill McLaren and Peter O'Sullivan as the greats we have lost. Sports broadcasting is a much poorer place without them.
David Stubley, Prestwick.
2021 VISION
I HAVE re-read my letter “Mark my word” (December 3), and with respect to correspondents (Letters, December 4 & 7), I quote – “foreseeing forthcoming Brexit chaos, am I likely to be wrong in predicting that the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year for 2021 will be 'Omnishambles'.”. Note: Brexit, predict, and 2021. Not 2020 as misread.
I understand this is published in November for the year ending.
No worries. We all make mistakes.
R Russell Smith, Largs.
TV HAMMERED
DREW Allan concludes his comment on the changing TV world by posing the question: "How come we still have nights when there's nothing on?" ("Remember when ... 2009 & 2010: Let’s get digital", The Herald, December 7). Perhaps a part answer is that the respective 100 channels on offer are not depicted by channel number in the various TV guides on offer by our daily papers. As Mr Allan highlights many of us slavishly graze (in my case glaze) through a plethora of programmes on offer but are sadly uninformed as to the channel number.
As for repeats. the BBC is particularly guilty. Today (December 7) an episode of Homes Under the Hammer was screened for the fifth time in the last four years. Such contempt to the viewer is also a reason for the switch-off trend.
Allan C Steele, Giffnock.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel