Absolutely. The filling station near my home has posted a sign on all the pumps which reads: "Please do not scrape the snow off your vehicles while refuelilng". I asked the manager how prevalent this behavior was and he said "very" and agreed with my offhanded remark that it was probablyl the more expensive car's owners which tended to do this the most.

Another article written by a moron, yes, moron who must have only lived in a city with good public transit his whole life. I just got back from visiting my parents in rural Nova Scotia, Canada. A car is nessary there as it is in many areas not served by public transit. To call these people anti-social bastards, what an idiot. Sorry but after growing up in such an area the total anti-car people burn me up. Great if you don't have to drive don't but remember cars are needed in wide swaths of the land. Also I don't think someone from the UK understands Canada with it's 5.5 time zones and hundreds of miles between major cities.

Interesting theory. Motor vehicles do cause their owners lots of stress. And stress triggers the "fight or flight" chemicals to be flooded into your brain. And when you are afraid and angry you generally don't have the capacity to make well thought out decisions. And you generally aren't acting with compassion or equanimity, either.

So, yeah, I can believe it. Though I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Tim, the writer is not a moron. And he wasn't talking about people like yourself who live in rural Canada. Yes, vehicles are needed in parts of the country where there is little population like in most parts of Nova Scotia. He was criticizing the suburbs -- the places attached to cities that decide it is better to build roads first and not even think about bus routes or streetcars or rapid transit. No matter what you think of the writer, you have to agree that the pollution from cars is killing us and that ignoring it any longer will be devastating. Stop the name calling and start trying to find some middle ground. I think the recent spike in Cdn gas prices might be the forced middle ground for car drivers.

Also, the writer is posted in Canada, I believe. And with the internet, someone far away can have a very good understanding of our country.

Ouch, Tim! Such angst. You got something very different from that article than I did. When I read it, I got the message that feeling forced to drive a car leads to the feeling that the world is out to get them, so to speak. I don't believe that anyone is saying that people who drive cars are inherently bad. The point I took from this is that if we want to have a society that isn't so stressed out, we would do well to make transportation less stressful. The cities do have better public transit, and it would be good to find ways to make the suburbs, and even rural areas, more accessable without a car.

Heck even in Nova Scotia, I know the government is working hard to create sustainable development which includes transit hubs and downtown mixed use areas in the small towns, to make life easier for everyone.

Oh, and on a side note, you can live in rural Nova Scotia without owning a car, though it takes a lot of creativity. My husband and I have a place in the Annapolis Valley, and we use electric scooters, bikes, trikes, buses, taxis. and our feet to get around mostly, thought I admit that we've rented cars on occasion. And I know of an elderly couple who had a gardening business in rural Cape Breton who used horses to get around. I'm sure most people whouldn't want to choose that kind of lifestyle, but it is doable.

Tim,

I grew up on a farm and in a small rural town, and lived in mid-sized US cities, which all had pathetic transit systems. I usually had to use a car to go into the middle of downtown just to pick up my parking permit. I've owned 9 cars, a scooter and a motorcycle. I always wanted to have a cool car before I realized that something other than the car could matter. That's the curse of the 'American Dream' that was created by people who wanted to sell cars and cheap suburban houses.

Nowadays, I live in a big city served by good transit, but I don't use it much. I live in a neighborhood that is very much like the small town I grew up in. My wife and I can walk or bike to movies, restaurants, banks, library, shops, supermarkets and public offices.

Monbiot's argument IS regarding small countries and cities, but if you spend some time in Europe or other developed nations, you'll find that even small towns are served by reasonable transit, and more importantly, people there prefer not to own or use cars as much as North Americans do.

Besides, Monbiot's article is really about a particularly nasty gang of thugs who are just trying to indirectly make the UK's transit as dysfunctional as North America's, so they can all pretend they're in The Fast And The Furious.

I love how, in the quote I won't even bother to read the article because I'm so insulted, he completely demonizes people who lean to the right. I am a republican. Not a Bush republican he isn't actually a republican he's a puppet for big business. I am insulted and discusted by his blatent attempt to take something and make it a right wingers suck speech.

Mobiot's smug rant is rooted in such a deep morass of ill-conceived, poorly-considered, contradictory ideas that it's barely worth the effort to type this comment about it, let alone dig through his nonsense.

And I say that as a dedicated cyclist.

I've read research on different cities & countries that has shown how transport shapes the development of towns. Where public transport exists, houses and businesses cluster around key transit points. But where people rely on private vehicles, this leads to more isolated settlements (which in turn also further fragment the natural habitat).

It doesn't matter how and why the current system of cars and roads arose. The point is that today we can start to improve public transport options, particularly in urban areas.

Further, countries with well developed public transport systems have lower transport costs as a % of GDP.

OK now that I've calmed down a little from being called an Anti-Social Bastard

I was only visiting NS. I live in the Chicago suburbs.I have to drive to get to work. No I can't take transit its not an option for me. Hey I compost, try to save energy where I can and make wise car buying decisions.

Turil - I grew up in Kentville and yes Kings transit was nice to have. I didn't need to depend on a car go to New Minus or Wolfville to shop but if you lived too far off the bus route your back to needing a car of some sort. It's cool that the old couple in CB can uses horses but think of the polution if everyone did it. Gallons of horse urine and the road apples...most cities are cleaner with motor vehicles today than they were when the horse was king.

Two quick comments: I resent the lumping together of "bloody-minded" and "individualistic". I don't know if this was intentional or not, or if I'm taking it the wrong way, but as something of an individualist myself I don't like the apparent assumption that I am somehow a lower class of society. Also, I'm not sure how driving is an automatic stress inducer. I'm from a rural area in Manitoba, but I've spent my fair share of time driving in cities like Winnipeg (which has horrific traffic patterns), Edmonton, and Calgary. And yes, I've driven during rush hour, and when I was late. Maybe it's just because I'm an easygoing guy, but I've always found that driving is only stressful if you allow it to be.

This guy doesn't know the first thing about being a libertarian. I'm a proud green libertarian because I choose to be--not because the nanny state has forced any of their stupid programs (paid for by stealing money from hard-working people) on myself and my partner.

As a libertarian I do not impose myself on others and I expect others to respect my way of life. Gay, green, Christian, pagan, smoker--go for it. I'm going green with or without you all.

Lisa an American/Australian