Private Motor Car

Status: Priced off the road.

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Once upon a time, it was ordained that everyone would have their own little house on wheels and have the freedom of the road. Nowadays, at saturation point, theres little likelyhood of this ever happening again. Eventually, motor vehicle usage will be impossible unless one has the power and money to pull it off. The poorest are being priced off the road, their personal transport option costed out of reach. Even where the car is a necessity, people are not able to travel at all, thanks to the mess of London's roadspace. Private motorists are under attack by politicos who may want to make us cycle or walk everywhere, or stay at home. Of course there are just too many people with too many cars. But the dilemna is being totally mismanaged, with great prejudice against the poor. There is no easy answer to this chaos.But things could be better.

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Perspective Those magnificent men in both Whitehall and the GLA dont think that Mr & Mrs average need or deserve their own Motor Car. The fact is that it should be a right for everyone. If used sensibly, the private car can be of benefit for all. But most people are finding themselves under attack from all sides. The blinkered perspective seems to be that the motorist has to pay and pay dearly for his personal pursuits, whilst being harrassed at every turn. Its the poor who suffer most. Every new piece of anti-car legislation is regressive, with no consideration of drivers wealth, of indeed lack of it. Another poor tax.

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Essential The thing is, for most of us there are certain journeys that cannot be reasonably realised without once own automobile. Obviously, in times of population overgrowth one has to ration ones ventures, but its no good being criticised for every vehicular behaviour. In these troubled times, most car trips are not acts of leisure. Everyone deserves access to cheap motoring. SAFETY: Personal safety in criminal-run London is slightly more obtainable within your car confines. We all need that steel shroud of protection from those that might hurt us. This is more important for lone travelling ladies. And even more important for kids that we maintain the School Run. How dumb that govenment criticises the School Run and blames it for gridlock. They really have no idea. They want to compomise the safety of the most vunerable. Our children need protection! EMERGENCY/FLEXIBLITY: Theres nothing that can replace the city dwellers car in an emergency. And for day to day living, its impossible to maintain a fluid lifestyle by expecting Public Transport to fullfil every expectation. Theres many a excursion that without a car is sheer drudgery, even impossible. Public Transport is run down, useless, inflexible, crap. Hardly an alternative.

Bullies One is severly caned if one decides on the purchase of a gleaming auto. Even if you're reasonably law abiding, careful, and sensible in your car conduct, its a minefield to navigate the barriers to happy motoring. Especially if you're at the poorer end of the scale. Those governmental bullies are gonna make you give up your pride and joy whether you like it or not. Firstly, after shelling out a fortune for the hardware, theres a feast of killer costs to keep you afloat. Not just tax and insurance, but that ever tougher Mot test. Every year its a new test level that you have to buy your way out of. Great if you've got endless revenue. But who has? Then secondly, once you've got out on the road, and you've filled up with over taxed fuel, you find the limited roadspace is vandalised by mounds of restrictions (see ROADSPACE ) which sieze up London for most of the day. The Mayor has now stung every owner with the congestion charge tax - an extra charge to drive into the central zone, thus displacing more traffic unevenly. More congestion. And all this has been corruptly managed, hitting people with false demands for payments. Also, whilst on your route, one's progress is haunted by thousands of speed cameras, which are also subject to the same corruptibility, and are setting such inflexible limits to road use. Add to this the mayor's messing with the traffic light sequence and timing, and you've got the misery that is London driving. They sure do just want to put people off using their cars. Thirdly, once you hit the destination, you hit Traffic Warden hell, where endless yellow lines pollute the capital, where tickets, towing, and clamping bully the sad car owner into submission. That was never five minutes! It's a systematic terrorism against the poor motorist. I think it's criminal, and I would like all the organisers of this fraudulent behaviour brought to justice, especially that bogus mayor.

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Conclusions? We're caught in the middle of infinitely upward population growth and infinitely downward acreage of roadspace. So we're also caught in the crush, and the real cures cannot be addressed, no one can go there, and so we will all suffer from these comical quick fixes imposed by authority. What with horridly hopeless Public Transport, and crazy congestive schemes, it seems that if you're poor, the only salvation is to stay at home permanently, have a nice cup of tea, and dream of those carefree times when you could park in the high street, doors unlocked, only to return hours later to find your property and proud possessions were, im afraid, still there. Great golden days. Charles (from London Town)

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