Car culture

About 10 people per day are killed on British roads. That is about 3,000 people per year, 2,000 of them children. This compares to 35 people per year who die on the train system. Between the ages of 15 and 24, car crashes kill more people than anything else. In America 44,000 people per year die on roads.

Add to this the number of people injured, disease caused by pollution, inability of emergency services to reach people in time and noise and stress. Not to mention global warming. It saddens me that people in countries like China are busy making a hell for themselves. It would be much better for their quality of life if they developed public transport instead of extensive and expensive road systems. Especially when they have to knock down traditional buildings.

If only one city in China was set aside as a car-free city, people could compare quality of life and see what is best for them. Unfortunately, cars are seen as 'modern' and are status symbols.

Many cities like Mexico City and Bangkok are very unpleasant places to live because of cars. The Aztecs who founded Mexico City sacrificed thousands to their gods in their ignorance. What is our excuse today? We sacrifice millions, and for what?

Parts of cities could be set aside, preferably upwind of the rest of the city. Imagine if the Isle of Dogs in London had been developed as a residential car-free area. It would have been suitable because there are no bridges across the Thames to it and the only roads into it are from the north. Housing developments without car-parking spaces could be designed so that home deliveries can be made easily.

People say that cars are convenient. They are becoming more and more convenient as patterns of retail and housing development change to suit car-users. Or perhaps it is better to say that it is becoming more and more inconvenient not to have a car. When you become too old to drive a car, you will find that life is very difficult for you.

Car ownership is one of the most socially divisive phenomena of our modern world. Poor people cannot afford to drive cars, and they are finding that the world they live in is becoming less suited for them. There are many people with modest incomes who are impoverished because they feel they need to have a car.

I don't have a car, I use public transport. There should at the very least be a cap on the total number of cars in Britain. Running a car should be made more expensive, especially inefficient cars like 4x4s.