Give drivers a break

Back in May, at the height of the pandemic crisis, Grant Shapps took advantage of the situation to promote walking and cycling, which is all very well if managed sensibly but not if it restricts choices and makes life harder and less convenient. In more urban areas, local councils have exploited this green emergency policy to introduce new or wider cycle lanes, close down residential side streets to traffic and expand footpaths, without consultation and often infuriating many locals. It was an excuse to open yet another front in the war on drivers.

As always, the law of unintended consequences applies. Closing side streets leads to main roads being jammed; ambulances get stuck in traffic and cars mount pavements to get past routes. There’s also a worry that criminals will now use the closed-off roads as getaways from the police. In these pages, we present the case of a couple from Lewisham who say that their once quiet street is now regularly blocked, with confused drivers discovering they can go no further and turning around. Older and less mobile residents will face particular difficulty; for them, a once-simple drive to the local shops will become a lengthy journey down congested main roads.

How can this possibly be good for health or the environment? The Government needs to think again, and local authorities must realise the human price paid for their overblown aspirations. Drivers are tired of being treated as a target for tax raids and regulation, on the assumption they will never complain. Across Europe, however, driver revolts are increasingly part of the political conversation, and if politicians don’t want to see that happen here, they need to rethink the direction of policy, fast.