Oh dear, not another diatribe against the evil motor car! Obviously my letter in your February issue (PN 2542) had no effect.
Patrick Nicholson’s article (PN 2544) makes it sound as if all society’s woes are caused by cars (fine, if you ignore militarism, injustice, inequality, poverty and a few other evils).
There may be some harmful aspects in some people’s enthusiasm for Top Gear’s car worship. But many of us (for example, the disabled, the elderly) depend on cars to get us to places which we otherwise cannot reach on foot or by bus or bike. And motor vehicles have proved extremely useful as ambulances, fire engines, and even as devices to get people to the Peace News Summer Camp.
I am in my seventies and, when I tried cycling a few months ago, I fell off into the road, making the rheumatism in my hip quite a bit worse.
Patrick Nicholson is lucky to be healthy enough to cycle. Millions of us are not so lucky.