Driving a motor car always brings its risks. One of them is forgetting that the Aynho Road from where I live and into Adderbury village has had a 30 mph limit stuck on it when it looks and drives like a 40 mph road. Thames Valley Police have worked this out, realise it is easy pickings to raise much-needed revenue and regularly park two highly paid police officers here to sting unsuspecting car drivers when those police officers could be out catching real criminals, including the oiks who occasionally terrorise Adderbury residents with anti social behaviour.
I recently received a strident lobbying e-mail, calling for 20 miles per hour limits in all residential parts of Oxfordshire. I think they are mad – yes mad. Roads are for cars, buses, lorries, vans and even bicycles. The predominant user is the motor car and they pay heavily for that privilege through Road Tax and Petrol Tax. To pretend that roads should be given over to pedestrians, cyclists and playing children is nonsense. Driving a modern car at 20 mph is actually quite difficult and wholly unnecessary. I do not believe it is an appropriate option in villages like Adderbury, Bloxham, Bodicote, Milcombe or Milton. Why not go the whole hog and require every motor car to have a man with a red flag walking in front of the vehicle? This would only take us back to The Locomotive Act of 1865. Is this what we want?
