Dominica had asked Greg what he considered the biggest problem on Highlands roads and naturally enough, the keen cyclist spoke sensibly about the relationship between bikes and cars on our roads.

A topic Greg would know well, as he has been an outstanding advocate on the Highlands for establishing a cycleway network, over at least the past 25 years, working closely with Wingecarribee Council in helping them develop a bicycle strategy for the shire.

BOWRAL resident Jacqui Kelly tackled the same question nicely when she said, "I don't think there is an issue, if people calmed down, shared the road and if people were considerate of others on the road".

She is so right.

Another respondent was concerned about how people used roundabouts, while another talked of inconsiderate parking habits. Only one of the people interviewed mentioned potholes.

AFTER leaving Greg and Dominica, I pondered how I would have responded to the question.

My answer came quickly. In my opinion, the biggest problem on our roads, are drivers who are not prepared to adapt to changing road conditions.

I grew up on a gravel road around these parts, which, like most unsealed roads, varied in quality from week to week. After wet weather, the surface was greasy and in really dry conditions, corrugations made driving at speed deadly. But we didn't speed, we drove to the conditions.

Just common sense. Sure it may have taken five more minutes to get to town, but we made allowances for that. Sadly, a handful of motorists don't acknowledge changing road conditions and have an expectation of doing their usual dangerously high speed, no matter what, and in so doing, risking the lives of others.

Those same people then blame the road conditions, rather than take responsibility for their own ineptitude, when they hit a tree.

AND don't some drivers love to whinge about roads?

I reckon people would have been bellyaching about roads since the Romans knocked up the Appian Way, and probably well before that, when old donkey tracks became rutted and full of potholes. I have never understood the obsession with potholes.

Like tinea and oxalis, they are a fact of life, particularly after wet weather. We all know that, but it doesn't stop some people travelling at their normal break-neck speed, then blaming the local council if their beloved car comes unstuck. If they drove to the conditions, the problem would never occur.

Unfortunately, some drivers refuse to accept responsibility for their reckless actions and immediately want to blame someone, normally a cash-strapped local council, which only has finite funds to manage thousands of kilometres of roads.

WE should finish on a lighter note, with Grace, who visited her priest to confess having committed adultery. The priest forgave Grace and told her not to let it happen again. Later that week, six more of his parishioners confessed adultery.

By the end of the month, over 50 locals had come to him confessing adultery. He was worried. These numbers were affecting his key performance indicators and wouldn't look good at his upcoming performance review with the bishop.

So at his next sermon he announced;

"from now on, if anyone of you commit adultery, don't tell me about it. "Instead, tell me something else, like you tripped in a pothole."

Eventually, that priest died of old age and was replaced by a young bloke, who knew nothing of the whole pothole thing.

Whenever people told him that they had tripped in a pothole, he would reply with; "Bad luck. Just tread carefully as you go through life."

One day, the priest decided to take up the issue of potholes with the mayor.

"Mr Mayor," he said, "I think we should spend a good deal of money to repair this town's roads because people keep tripping in potholes every day."

The mayor just burst out laughing

"This is no laughing matter, Mr Mayor," said the priest indignantly. "Your good wife alone, tripped in six potholes last week."