The National Trust is questioning why Government approved wider cars without consulting them or conducting public hearings.

?Widening car size could have a detrimental affect on the quality of life in Bermuda. Every time we make an incremental but detrimental change to the quality of life here it has an aggregate affect,? said the Trust?s environmental conservation officer Peter Drew.

Highlighting concerns that larger cars will increase traffic congestion and damage roadways, Mr. Drew criticised Government for failing to weigh the consequences of widening car widths.

?The bottom line is that there should have been wider consultation because it seems that these issues haven?t been comprehensively and adequately addressed,? he said.

Mr. Drew?s comments come after published a letter in which he said that the Trust opposed recent legislation which increased a car?s legal width by four inches.

?In Bermuda an increase of four inches could literally be a life or death decision,? he wrote and one which will, in his view, ultimately lead to widening roads.

?This is an Island of limited size. Our roads are of a limited size,? he said. ?We must work within these limits rather than doing what seems to be dictated by commercial interests to the general user on the road.?

?I don?t think an average Bermudian family is going to go out and buy a very expensive and difficult to licence larger car,? he said, adding that the legislation will benefit the wealthy who will want the new cars.

He said the Trust will remain a staunch opponent to ?widening the roads to accommodate a few users.?

Concerning the legislation which was passed by the Senate on July 28, Mr. Drew said: ?It seem there was very little public comment. The only opinion asked for was the car dealerships and of course they have their views.?

However, local insurance companies and the Highways Department of the Ministry of Works and Engineering topped Mr. Drew?s list of organisations which should have been consulted.

If the National Trust had been asked, he said, it would have pointed out the traffic problems the Island already has.

?Every weekend a new wall is damaged and tree that has been smashed by motorists,? he said.

In addition, he said, the size of Hamilton?s lay-bys will have to be reconsidered since they are measured to fit smaller cars.

?Are all the lay-bys going to be adjusted for the minority (of motorists) who have larger cars?

?Bermudians need to ask themselves if we need bigger cars.

?Do we need increase risk on the road?

?There should have been the option for the public to comment on the proposal, so that some of these views could have been aired and discussed instead of one day waking up to find the law had been passed.

?We have to be considering the the quality of life on the Island,? he said. ?Is the increase in the car size ?the quality of life? choice we want to make, with over congested and more dangerous roads.?

When contacted for his comment, the Transport Minister Ewart Brown defended the car size increase.

?We may not have consulted with every interested group, but we did consult widely,? he said.

Concerning Mr. Drew?s concerns about the size of parking spots in Hamilton, Dr. Brown said ?people will not put there cars where the spaces are too small.?