DRIVING me mad
I’ve been watching old episodes of retro cop show,
Life on Mars, on iPlayer, which is a reminder that the 1970s was a time of casual racism and sexism.
But, on the plus side, they all drove really cool cars – like Inspector Gene Hunt’s Ford Cortina 2000E, a Capri and Rover P6 – and there was nobody else on the roads!
Reader Sandra Otter of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, recalls learning to drive in a funky Capri.
She writes: “You talking about giving up the car has really hit home. I passed my test 50-odd years ago in a beautiful Ford Capri. There were hardly any cars on the road back then.”
Sandra then changed to a Fiesta, and the last one she had was a sexy sports car. But for many reasons, she gave up driving.
“I lost my confidence, and there was too much traffic on the road, so I sold it.”
Sandra adds: “I don’t miss it – only for collecting my Budweisers from Tesco, but I can’t have those now because of my health – and my bus pass is brilliant!” Thanks for getting in touch, Sandra. And, like you, I don’t miss driving on busy motorways, or their traffic cones!
Reader Bev Spiller, 62, from Honiton, Devon, says it best, when she wrote: Traffic cones in parking zones, Everybody looks and moans,
Hordes of cones, an orange haze,
Marching down the motorways, Spoiling people’s holidays, Guarding holes and parking spaces,
Cones are found in random places,
Perched on a statue’s head,
Tossed on a roof of a garden shed,
But the traffic cones are on the rise,
With their flashing yellow eyes,
Is it such a surprise, No one seems to realise, They’re out to rule the world!
■ What’s the best thing about giving up your car? Email siobhan.mcnally @mirror.co.uk