The continuing flood of letters, articles and editorials about parking and traffic congestion in Brighton and Hove must surely make our councillors aware there is now a major crisis.

Even nurses are complaining they can't do their job (The Argus, October 13).

The heart of the problem is that no one is asking the right questions. The council commissioned a study about a year ago, which involved researchers going out to randomly selected households to ask about car use on a particular day.

I know this because they came to our house. They did not ask about usage patterns per household over time, business mileage in the city or commuting journeys in and out of Brighton.

So at a stroke, the research findings, if they are ever published, exclude three major influences on car ownership and journeys.

Until policy makers make an effort to understand why people use their cars, arbitrary traffic and parking restrictions will continue to hurt innocent people who are trying to live and work here.

Traffic and car usage is a sophisticated issue reflecting our 21st Century ability to choose where and how we work and live. It is not as simple as saying get on a bus or walk.

The council can make a difference by taking a flexible, intelligent approach to the car and move away from its simple "dump the car" policy.

What, for example, ever happened to the idea of Roger French, managing director of the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, to have computer controlled use of bus lanes?

Why don't we adopt the flexible traffic lane system used in Birmingham?

Why isn't the clever parking system operated in Kemp Town which allows residents and visitors parking on a variable basis, extended throughout the city?

The council can do it if it wants to. Maybe if councillors started to think in terms of how we live in this century, we might start to sort out this desperate crisis.

-Andrew Abaza, Brighton