Cars promise freedom of movement and a certain amount of independence for the individual. On the other hand they waste resources and are certainly major polluters. The proliferation of cars in urban areas has led to congestion and delays, and both air and noise pollution. Over the last few years deaths through road traffic accidents have rapidly increased. According to the CSO there were 429 deaths from road traffic accidents in 1998.
Cars are wasteful in terms of how they use space compared with bikes or public transport.
A single person driving a car at 10 kilometres an hour uses six times as much space as a cyclist travelling at the same speed. Cars put those who depend on public transport and cycling or walking at a disadvantage, leading to delays for public transport and a high risk for pedestrians and bicycles. In fact, as ever, they would be delighted to throw more of our money into their solution to our problem. There's no percentage in trains or buses for them. We get to live with the delays and the brunt of pollution, road accidents and traffic jams.