Will it be the equivalent to smoking indoors, smoking while pregnant or drink driving when my daughter is my age? When I was at university I couldn't imagine people not smoking inside. It seemed an integral part of going out - the smoke went with the music. Now it seems amazing that we ever did.
I hope that this will be the same with car pollution. Its crazy really given how much we know about the health threats of cars, the impacts of pollution on our health, the risks of road accidents and the contribution to climate change. Of course the vested commercial interests and the social norms of having a car as a sign of freedom are hard to break. Car advertising is so ubiquitous. The latest Bond film I saw last night seemed like one long car advert. But it doesn't have to be this way. Imagine buses advertised like cars:
My hope is that for one, cars in cities will be a rarity. In fact driving cars in cities will be considered the worst choice - why drive yourself when someone else can drive you on public transport (because in my fantasy public transport will be efficient, clean and affordable). Cities and towns will be mostly pedestrian with cycling or a super efficient clean public transport network the main ways to travel.
We stumble into our future, rarely due to a plan but because of a million micro decisions and a few with power
channelling money into where they think profit lies. Sometimes a breakthrough will happen when a bold vision is given, leading to changes in behaviours and social norms. I like this
story of neighbours who have got together to take over residential streets
and block out the traffic so their children can play together.
How about this for adults as well as for children? Mass
weekend ‘Occupy’ of our favourite streets, blocking off the traffic in order to
simply sit and read the newspaper in peace.If anyone has been to Venice, you know how amazing it can be to walk for hours without seeing or hearing cars. If only we could will that vision here too.
