Don’t blame cars. It’s the drivers...

DEAR Editor, I regularly go by car to Birmingham from Lichfield for meals, theatre, dentistry, sport or to meet colleagues or friends. Invariably it is not a pleasant experience.

It seems to me that it isn’t cars that are the problem but the way they are driven.

The red traffic light is an optional extra for some, and amber definitely means ‘go’!

Meanwhile, lane discipline appears an unnecessary luxury. And indicating one’s intention to change lane or turn also seems to be an optional extra.

Combine this with reports of the high percentage of cars not insured, taxed or MOT’d, and the number of drivers without licences or banned for previous convictions and you literally fear for your life driving in the area.

The problem is not the car but the way it is used and abused. Your report saying that ‘Most city drivers want to leave the car at home’ doesn’t surprise me in the least.

However, the survey commissioned by Sustrans (a campaigning anti-vehicle agency) seems to lack credibility.

If you ask some very loaded questions, you will get the answer you want. Of course, everyone would love to walk or cycle, but Birmingham will become a ghost town as well as the City Council placing more and more obstacles in the way of the car.

We know London’s nightlife is being decimated by Sadiq Khan’s policies, and these schemes are being replicated in Birmingham.

Here is the disconnect – the local authority brains will squeeze the life out of the car.

Prevent bad driving through active traffic management first and foremost, then the world can breathe again.