Letter: Cost of the car

Cost of the car

Sir: While applauding Andreas Whittam Smith's publicising the car-free exhibition at the Oxo Tower (Comment, 19 April), I was struck by the extraordinary lengths some drivers want us to go before they will abandon their motors. I was surprised no one has yet suggested a rickshaw (powered by the unemployed) waiting outside every house.

Those of us who have never owned a car or have given up know that life is already entirely supportable in urban areas without a car. The financial savings are, of course, enormous so that when a motor is needed we have the means to pay for a taxi.

Increase investment in public transport by all means, but don't give hardened motorists the ability to argue that they could not start to wean themselves off their cars straight away.