Chez Kay
Andrew Kay loves not loving his car
Needs demanded that I get my own form of transport. I have a bike but haven’t been on it once since moving out to sunny Saltdean six years ago. Even on a hot summer’s day it’s just too far for my fat and feeble body, and my sense of balance is certainly not what it was. So, the days of driving my old Skoda are over and I can now be seen in my new little red car.
My first car was red, well, maroon to be honest. It cost me £250 in 1980 and it ran for years. I loved that little Fiat 850, despite the fact that even in my slinkier 32-inch waist days I would have to fold myself in and out of the car. I once drove home to the parents, and on seeing a little rust, dad proceeded to pop rivet panels over the offending damage. It ended up looking like an armadillo.
I had another red car when I was in my 30s, a cute little Fiat X19 Gran Finale. I still loved it even after friends branded it a hairdresser’s car.
“Strangling our roads does not reduce drivers it, simply makes angry ones”
Now I have a little red car again. Not a red Corvette, no. Not even a sporty little number of any kind. Not that that bothers me. Back in the days when I drove company vehicles, and someone else picked up the bills, I could get quite excited about what I drove. Now I drive a 10-year-old Nissan Micra with a driver’s window that does not wind down and lacy rust motifs on the rear doors. I see it as a means of getting from A to B and back again.
I know it’s not PC to drive a car, especially here in right on Brighton. But for reasons of location, and for work, I find there is no better alternative. I could take the bus, if it ran by my home after 6.30pm. I could cycle, if I were fitter and did not live at the top of a long slow hill. I could take cabs if I were inordinately wealthy, but I am not.
Many of us who drive cars do not love them at all, they are simply the most effective form of transport for our given circumstances. I certainly do not enjoy driving in Brighton, it is a nightmare and parking fees are highway robbery. Our roads are undergoing another series of changes; God only knows what effect the ‘Peacehaven Bus Corridor‘ will have, but evidence so far says that it is not being designed for car users.
I want to love the buses, I want to reduce my carbon footprint, but strangling our roads does not reduce drivers, it simply makes angry ones. And finally, has it not occurred to the planners that many car owners do so simply to escape the city and its terrible road system for the countryside beyond.
