The Coventry Cathedral hierarchy emphasised that they wanted the service in January (marking the 100th anniversary of the motor car), to be even-handed about the advantages and disadvantages.
Nevertheless, it was, in the end, cars which processed down the aisle, not the road-accident victims, not the asthma sufferers, not the drivers bearing the scars of other people's road-rage, nor representatives of those whose homes are oppressed by the 24-hours-a-day roar and rumble of traffic.
In this, Coventry was very revealing. Whatever people may say that is negative about cars, they will not give them up. The latest Lex survey of motoring showed that 59% of drivers agree with the campaigns to stop new roads being built across the countryside, and 82% supported protests against pollution in cities. But far from getting rid of their own cars, more cars appear on Britain's roads each year: currently 21.3 million, double the number of 30 years ago, and still rising. In London it is estimated that for every 100 people in their cars, another 40 would be out there too if driving was easier. Even among the anti-roads protesters it is ironical that some of the protesters are so wedded to their vehicles that they actually live in them!
