8/12/2019 My Life as a Human Speed Bump the Guardian

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My life as a human speed bump The Guardian, Saturday 23 September 2006

Giving up a car has not been quite the liberating experience that GeorgeMonbiot had hoped.

Seventeen years after giving up my car, I still feel like a second-class citizen. Iam trying to do the right thing, but the United Kingdom just isnt run for peoplelike me.

!ake our bus services. "y home city, #$ford, has invested massively in a park-and-ride scheme% buses shuttle people into the centre from car parks on theperiphery. &t first I thought this 'as a great idea. (o', having stood for 'hatmust amount to 'eeks at bus stops, 'atching the double deckers go by everycouple of minutes 'ithout stopping, I realise its not just the roads 'hich havebeen monopolised by drivers, but also the public transport system.

#r take the bike lanes. "ost consist of lines painted on the road 'here it is 'ideand safe, 'hich disappear as soon as it becomes narro' and dangerous. #neof them, in #$ford, has been gravelled, 'hich sho's that the people 'hodesigned them have never ridden a bicycle. )hen 'e asked for proper lanes onone of the citys busiest streets, the council chose instead to narro' it and'iden the pavements, in the hope that the bicycles 'ould slo' do'n the cars.!he cyclists, perversely reluctant to become human speed bumps, startedtravelling do'n the pavement.

(o' there is almost no'here reserved for people like me. #ut of political po'er.#ur demands are counter-aspirational, and therefore of little interest to eitherpoliticians or the media.

(o', to my horror, I find I am beginning to *uestion even the environmentalimpact of my + years of abstinence. It is true that my o'n carbon emissionshave been suppressed. It is also true that if everyone did the same thing thetotal saving 'ould be enormous. !he problem is that, in the absence ofregulation, traffic e$pands to fill the available space.

y refusing to o'n a car I have merely opened up road space for other people,'ho tend to drive more fuel-hungry models than I 'ould have chosen. )e cando little to reduce our impacts on the environment if the government 'ontsupport us.

!here are some compensations, ho'ever. &bout three or four times a year Ihire a car. )hen I stop at motor'ay service stations, I am struck by thestaggering levels of obesity% it appears to be far more prevalent there than ontrains or coaches. eople 'ho take public transport must at least 'alk to thebus stop. !he cyclists among us keep fit 'ithout even noticing.

eing 'ithout a car has forced me to embed myself in my home to'n. It thro'sme into contact 'ith far more people than I 'ould other'ise meet. !here are acouple of routes 'hich make cycling a real pleasure% the to'path along the!hames, for e$ample, takes me most of the 'ay to the station.

ut overall, as far as self-interest is concerned, I 'ould struggle to claim thatgiving up my car 'as a 'holly positive decision.