4 You are a Terrapin Tex city councillor who has received a

4. You are a Terrapin, Tex., city councillor who has received a letter from a constituent complaining about the potholes on Maple Street and demanding that something be done about them soon. The writer even mentions an accident between a van and a car that occurred when the car swerved to avoid a large pothole on Maple. The driver of the car was sent to hospital with a broken arm and facial lacerations; the van driver was shaken up but not injured. The writer wants the pothole problem BAD NEWS LETTER EXERCISES 17 fixed ASAP. The problem is that the city doesn\'t have the budget to repair every single pothole in its jurisdiction all at once, so road repairs are done based on a schedule. Maple Street isn\'t due for repairs for at least another six months. Making up whatever details you need, write a bad-news letter to the constituent explaining why the potholes aren\'t going to be fixed in the near future. Hint: Say what you are doing to keep the roads safe, not what you can\'t do

Solution

Dear Mr. X,

Thank you for bringing the matter to our notice. We are very sorry to hear about the inconvenience experienced by the people and the accident mentioned by you on the Maple Street.

We understand that potholes are one of the major cause of road accidents and we are taking proper steps for addressing the same. However, I am very sorry to inform you that we could not fix the issue until next few months, since there are certain variables involved in it. There are several factors that needs to be considered before taking any step to fix the matter like the size and depth of the potholes, seriousness of the problem, traffic conditions, and most importantly the budget.

Till the time we can fix the problem, we will take necessary steps to make sure that such incidents do not take place again by putting warning signs, making temporary arrangements to fix it, and increase safety and traffic regulation on the street.

Once again, let me convey our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused. We would try our best to fix the pothole problem in Maple Street as early as possible.

Sincerely,

Smith Jones

City counselor

Terrapin Tex.