Can it really matter which 'wing ' you consider yourself belonging to when you consider the polluting aspects of car use? In the age of global warming - which even short-sighted government ministers say is a fact - surely all drivers are morally culpable whether its a 4x4 or a 2CV fate has them steering. I'm sure I'm not alone to find it amazing that in the year 2007 such a glib article on motoring can still be written! As the man from Bucharest meant to write: get with the program!

Rakibuddin Ahmed, Edgware, Middlesex

Perhaps if our local comrades committes could see further than the big bucks in their coffers offered by the supermarkets we could retain our local shops and market stalls and not need our cars to lug the shopping for three miles or more. Its not just the car that depletes and pollutes the urban environment ...

If you're going to be tough on the cause of a problem then look harder for the real cause instead of jumping on the sometimes inconvenient solution instead!

KR, Stockport,

To John from Lison, I can not agree with you more. And BIKES RULE.

Strummin' Ronin, London,

I hope Richard from Bucharest is joking when he says:

"Adopt Defensive / Aggressive tactics when tailgated threeatened on the highway - Always challenge tailgaters by changing pace frequently - put them on the defensive - an accident is their fault."

I thought the general aim when driving was to avoid accidents, not to cause them in such a way that you can pin the blame on others.

I am impressed by the thought of anyone having 22 pairs of socks. I myself have a drawer full of the critters. But can I ever find a matched pair in the morning?

Simon, London,

I think what Michael Gove has written about cars is fascinating and very important for the future of Conservatism and of Britain.

Thats because it illustrates the schism in right wing thinking - should the right celebrate freedom and personal choice or despise it as a threat to law, order, courtesy and the traditions of Britain that conservatives are supposed to defend?

The car is a perfect example of this doublethink - and the right will never regain power until it knows what it believes!

I am chuckling at the thought of the apoplexy that will afflict Peter Hitchens when he reads this - he hates cars and mistakenly thinks that is a right wing, reactonary thing to do! But he would be right that a desire for courtesy and respect is certainly not a province of the left. It just should not be confused with the bullying approach to rules that penalises the letter of increasingly unreasonable laws irrespective of courtesy and shows no respect or understanding of driving skills.

Nigel Humphries, Worcester,

How does the motor car equal freedom? Freedom to breath clean air, freedom to live in a quiet environment, freedom to use our streets and roads without fear all have been taken away by the selfish car user. The motor car brings few benefits to society and damages our countrys economy. Far from being a Tory plaything the motor car is far closer to Anarchy. I for one will happily vote for whichever political party has the vision to liberate our society from the true cause of terror in our lives. By the way the correct response to being tailgated is to slow down and increase the amount of clear road in front of you.

Clive Stringer, Eggesford, Devon

How right Michael is about 4x4 drivers. Here's one solution. Fit all 4x4s with speed limiters with a top speed of 55mph. Then you don't inconvenience farmers who genuinely need them; you cut greenhouse gas emissions and you make these monstrosities much less attractive as a yuppie fashion accessory as well as making the urban streets a lot safer for the rest of us. Mr Davies needs to remember that liberty means you can do what you want so long as you don't prevent others from doing what they want. Smoking in pubs and driving like lunatics do just that.

Hugh Schollick, Southport, UK

Ah well, it was inevitable at some point that the paid opinionated would decide it was time to have a go at Stephen Poliakoff. Mr Gove's comments tell you more about his value as a critic than Poliakoff's as a playwright.

Tim Powell, Bath,

What happened to ending the war on the motorist? Not so long ago that was an official Conservative Party pamphlet.

I personally don't recognise the over-generalised and gloomy vision Mr Gove spells out. Many motorists are decent everyday people, happy to stop and let a mum with a pram cross.

If his rather dismissive tone is now typical of his party, heaven help the Conservatives. They are so concerned on eco-posturing on Cloud Nine that they have become out of touch with the public.

They have already failed to spot that opposing road user charging is the silver bullet that will despatch Gordon and win the next election.

B D Mooney, Fulham, UK

As more and more of our free choices in life are outlawed - driving, smoking, expressing a genuine opinion, running businesses in a competitive way - the more we will behave like the outlaws we have been branded! All this communistic social engineering changes no-one, it just increasingly privileges the creatures and apparatchiks of The Party while disenfranchising every free spirit. Government never used to work with such total antipathy to the grain of human nature, and, to the extent that the system tolerated them, people tolerated and worked within the system. The creeping communism of Britain is ensuring that increasing numbers of people no longer cleave to the established society. In their hearts and minds they are either just the stubbornly individualistic enraged by constant persecution, or are (no doubt) quietly forming new groupings and alliances beyond the hostile gaze of Big Brother ... This is not a healthy politics or a healthy society.

Philip Davies, Abderystwyth, Wales, U.K.

You could just get out of the way

John, Lisbon, Portugal

I am not a labour voter and I love cars. For all their drawbacks they still represent a vision of personal freedom that many, many many people aspire to. Not everyone lives in towns/cities or boroughs run by communists who wish thwart every private vehicle on the road. Much of the hullabaloo raised by the anti-car mob is not anti-car at all, but anti-car driver in the sense that they are enraged by the principle that they cannot "control" the person who is the car driver. Hence the onslaught of anti-car (driver) hysteria from "Comrade" Ken amongst others. To those souls who have to commute to work on congested roads, stop it now! Really, you should stop torturing yourselves and get your local Comrade Committee to fully support you and your family, after all that's what government is for, isn't it? Of course for us non townies, nothing beats a 3 mile hike to the shops and carrying all your shopping home does it. If you don't like cars then don't buy one but just get off my back!

Car Driver & Voter, Devon, UK

I am a conservative and I detest cars, which destroy traditional patterns of life. The car creates suburban sprawl and robs everyone but the very rich and the very poor of the opportunity of living in a quality urban environment where they can complete most necessary journeys on foot - and it is that which is the best type of transport "freedom" there is. There is no "freedom" involved in a long commute on congested roads that is undertaken out of financial necessity. The car has also ruined the countryside.

Oliver Chettle, Bedford,

All my socks are dark blue.

Get with the programme - You cannot successfully legislate against changing mindsets - You can influence by your Responsive behaviour.

Adopt Defensive / Aggressive tactics when tailgated threeatened on the highway - Always challenge tailgaters by changing pace frequently - put them on the defensive - an accident is their fault.

If you need some extreme driving conditions to compare with UK - come drive in Romania - amongst all the Porsche Cayennes, Bentley, Aston Martins & Ferraris doing Grand Prix starts at Bucharest city centre traffic lights.

Driving in UK then becomes a pleasure.

> 2 million miles without accident speaks for itself - Lucky...

Richard, Bucharest, Romania