muckles:
Carryfast:
On that note I was happy enough with years of commuting often in the traffic between here and Feltham with a manual Triumph 2.5 PI and manual Granada 2.8i for example.And assuming most of the time you couldn’t use the power of handling of those cars, what exactly was the pleasure in crawling through urban traffic? However if you enjoy it so much, maybe on your time off you could find some like minded people and find a piece of tarmac and all sit in a traffic jam together.
Carryfast:
While it’s going to be bleedin difficult to justify all the costs of keeping and transporting a ‘proper’ car which can only be used off road.Surely no worse than those people who now transport classic cars to shows and race tracks, it will become a leisure activity not a necessity.
Carryfast:
IE this is all about the clear questions will we still be able to drive the vehicle of our choice as and where we please.Or will it be a case of the Demolition Man type scenario of only compulsory use of an expensive boring robot EV being allowed on the roads ?.That’s all that really matters here.With it being obvious which way people will vote with their wallets ‘if’ it’s a case of the former.Bearing in mind the issue of people supposedly not valuing the freedom and pleasure of actually driving seems to be massively ( deliberately ? ) over estimated and while we might moan about the worst aspects of driving,that’s still better than some control freak telling us that we can’t drive anything anywhere which is what this really seems to be all about.It might not be forced on people, more likely car ownership will fizzle out, like carriage driving didn’t die out over night with the introduction of the car and commercial vehicle.
A new generation might be less interested in driving for transportation, when they can spend that time doing something far more productive while being transported to their destination.
Those that are interested in driving will do it as a hobby, a bit like those who have a modern bike or car for track use only. I know people who never ride a motorbike on the road and people who have high powered cars they never use on the road, they see no point in doing so as you can’t get anywhere near the limits of the vehicle on the public roads without risking your licence or having to deal with other road users, many of whom are just not interested in driving and probably aren’t really concentrating on what they are doing. Why do you think the Nordschleife is so popular, especially it seems from my last visit to there with British drivers?
Firstly the 1970’s and 80’s at least was a different world with a much more relaxed attitude to speed even in 30 mph areas let alone what was then far more NSL parts of that journey.So plenty of scope to use the power of those types to the point where the Triumph was arguably often borderline on power.While it was the brakes which were more the limiting factor with the Granada especially on early 3-4 am finish times on nights. 
While as I’ve said no real problem to just crawl through the heavier trafficked bits like the approaches to Hampton Court Bridge at the wrong times of day.While now it’s no problem to just drive the Zafira,which is more or less as powerful as the Triumph was,at a much more sedate pace to suit the new speed regime and the resulting dumbed down antics of others from pedestrians to bus drivers.On that note I’d still rather drive a proper car under the much stricter speed regime and similar traffic conditions varying from sometimes empty roads,to sometimes a gridlocked crawl depending on time and place,than not.
In which case if it’s not going to be forced on anyone I don’t see any issues in that those with my views can/will continue to use vehicles as we’ve always done.
However I don’t think that’s the agenda here.In that those like Dr Damon etc intend to force proper cars etc and those who prefer to drive them,off the roads.Which is a totally different matter. 