You are in the minority, chum. Your very stats tell you that, it do you think less than 50 percent now constitutes a majority. Odd for a numbers wizard to get that wrong.As you are being obtuse I’ll explain it to you. We are told by you and others that local journeys are to be discouraged, yet you can’t provide any legal definition of that. What’s ‘local’ to you may not count as that to someone else. Of course, the reasons that people might drive to a destination that you deem should be walked or, preferably, cycled. Let me give you an example, just to help you comprehend.There’s a large B&Q in Chiswick. Probably within the boundaries of your personal definition of local. It’s used by a lot of people daily, the car park is always busy. But horror of horrors, these people might only be driving a mile there and back. Yet for most it’s the only option because the things they get there are too big or heavy to carry on foot or on a bike. That applies to a lot of other shops, including Sainsbury’s where people clearly still like to do a big weekly shop.I don’t say that trips are discretionary, that’s your warped interpretation. People do things when it’s convenient for them. You probably do the same yourself. If they are time pressed ten they might drive. So what? It’s not a crime. Vehicles are tools designed to make life easier for those that have them. Just because you live some sort of perfect life doesn’t mean everyone else does.Your contention about the wealthy driving is laughable. Do you think that congestion charging and road pricing is going to stop the rich from getting into their big old cars? No, it won’t. They can afford it. The ones who can’t are those who you define as poor, who won’t be able to afford the charges. Just tax people out of their cars seems to be the attitude. Surely the only fair way to do it is to make car ownership illegal. But that won’t happen.And there you go citing congestion, pollution and death (though the supposed figures attributed to vehicle emissions for the last of those is contentious). Don’t you understand that congestion is increased by funnelling all traffic into a few roads. The LTN experiment in Ealing saw pollution increase on main roads as congestion increased. Much of the emissions wasn’t from cars, which are relatively clean and cut out when stationary l, but from HGVs and other large vehicles chugging out diesel fumes in traffic jams.I didn’t say cycling didn’t have health benefits. I said short trips on a bike have the benefits overstated. You won’t burn many calories in a flat ride for half a mile, and likely will consume those calories and more at the end of your journey. Otherwise you’d never see a fat cyclist, would you? There are many other factors to health, not least dietary habits, that put a strain on the nhs that cycling won’t address no matter how much you try to claim otherwise.
Simon Hayes ● 1398d