Ed Mead

London’s car drivers are being bullied

It's time for a motorists' revolt

  • From Spectator Life
[Alamy]

Any historic London footage inevitably features cars busily rounding Hyde Park Corner and shooting off up Park Lane, against the background of sky-scraping hotels and thriving offices. Have you seen the same bit of London now? It’s a giant car park, brought to a standstill by an administration with seemingly little idea how to promote a thriving capital.

The city’s best-known thoroughfare has been reduced from three lanes to just one open for traffic northbound, one for bicycles (used sparingly in rush hour) and one for buses, usually empty. That’s just one lane for normal traffic, used by Londoners simply trying to get from A to B via one of the main routes across the capital.

Any world capital needs to offer choice in the way its population gets around. But successive anti-car administrations in London have used too much stick and not enough carrot

London car drivers are increasingly being bullied – and this is one driver who’s had enough.

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