The fuel crisis is no bad thing if it keeps my hideous car off the road

Unable to drive thanks to a lack of petrol, Will Gore feels the painful irony of a speeding ticket coming through the letterbox

My car rather unreasonably won’t operate on air alone (PA)

When I was learning to drive, my mother would sit fearfully in the front passenger seat every afternoon as I made the same slow circuit of nearby villages. She would regularly hammer her foot down on an imaginary pedal, or reach instinctively for a handbrake that wasn’t where she expected it to be, as my developing technique caused her to assume the worst.

In the end, I passed my test first time – but only because the examiner breezily asked me halfway through how I thought the light conditions were on that grey November late afternoon, to which I responded correctly by turning on my headlights.

Ever since I was able to get behind the wheel alone, I have loved driving. I had some anxious moments on hills in the early days, and my first car hire abroad was a tad hairy, but basically it is a joy to be on the road.