A motorist’s argument for reducing car use
SIR – Despite being of a similar political persuasion to Lord Frost, and a motorist, I hardly know where to start with his defence of the car (Comment, July 29).
His most egregious oversight is to ignore the damage done by cars, which falls on the households that don’t have the privilege of owning one (50 per cent in London), as much as those that do. We can’t manage without them – but, where possible, we should minimise their use.
Tim Gibbons
London SW15
SIR – Lord Frost writes about the freedoms that come with driving an internal combustion engine car.
Five years ago, I was in the lovely French city of Nantes with a “champagne socialist” friend. Observing the new blocks of flats being built, I asked: “How will all these people charge up their electric cars when petrol and diesel cars are banned?”
Well, answered my friend, the plan is to quietly make it inconvenient for them to own a car, so they will prefer to use our wonderful public transport system.
So there you have it: there is a bigger plan.
Francis Bongiovanni
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire