Your thesis is absolute nonsense. To believe that drivers only get pleasure from speed is false, I believe what Tom is encouraging is sensible use of the existing road infrastructure so that people who enjoy touring can proceed at a reasonable speed (probably close to the posted speed limit). When this is frequently impossible due to anti-social activists (cyclists and caravans being notable examples) it indeed becomes frustrating.

Your concept of freedom is also warped, you seem to believe that you need the sanction of government to be able to do something you enjoy-very dystopian.

Fortunately your wet-dream of guided way control of vehicles will not be technically or financially feasible within my lifetime, although the logical consequences of such thought is already on display in the London tube system, if that is how you want your life to be controlled be my guest, I will decline.

It is a shame that one selfish group can affect so many, I remember clearly in my school days that we were required to obtain a cycling proficiency test certificate before being allowed to bike to school. The test was essentially a driving test for bicycles, a major part of the test was showing courtesy to others and signalling your intentions very clearly. The idea that you should pull off the road for a short period if you were hindering others was taught. Though I am not disposed to governmental interference generally I would favour the re-introduction of such a test and road licensing of all vehicles that use the road. Introduction of minimum speed limits on well-travelled roads should also be considered to remove dangerous obstructions .

We already have "human-driven country roads reserved for driving pleasure - free of cyclists, ramblers, caravans, lorries, tractors and oncoming traffic..." they're called race-tracks.

Cars are not toys. They are the single biggest cause of death of otherwise healthy people in the developed world and part of a mass transit system designed to move people and goods. The idea cars invoke "freedom" just because you're free to steer it into a cyclist or tree is laughable, or would be were it not so widely held.

If you're enjoying driving, unfortunately it means you're probably going too fast. If you're not going as fast as you'd like, you're getting all angsty. Then you get aggressive and kill either yourself, or someone else. Or you just endure a surge of cortisol and eventually die of a heart attack.

The simple fact is if you misuse any other tool and kill someone, you go to gaol. Cars are the exception.

The sooner computers take over the mundane task of piloting you from A-B the sooner we can all get along. Let the enthusiasts race on tracks - hell, I'll be there too, getting it all sideways, But let's make the boring task of getting to work safer for everyone.

Unfortunately I'm in Herts, not Scotland, but a pint would be wonderful!

Mr Paine, your distemper is understandable, and as a non-resident of the UK the cure is obvious.

Your fine car is a beast of the autostrada and autoroute, it will never be at ease on the speed cameraed motorways of the UK amongst the most envious drivers and over-populated roads in Europe. Unfortunately over-policing speed is becoming a worldwide problem, enjoy your car while you can, our future seems to be dreary conformist hybrid mobiles if the current crop of politicians have their way (witness the USA-what would Thomas Paine conclude?)

As to your unhappiness with the political situation, I wonder at your bewilderment, my memories of political leaders go back to about Macmillan and it was obvious that twenty years after his departure that nothing would or could improve. Even golden opportunities such as Thatcher and North Sea oil have been squandered. To live in the UK is to be perpetually disappointed.

I fear the best days of western civilization have been seen and we are now on a downward trend of mediocrity, yet still there a pockets of the world where enjoyment is possible on a more continual basis than yUK. You seem to be a man of reasonable wealth perhaps some exploration is in order.

Jackart is a monomaniac when it comes to transport, he talks a lot of sense on other topics so perhaps we can forgive him his foibles.

But you misunderstand his comment about BMW's: it's not just about fast cars, it's specifially BMW's. There's something about those cars that turns practically everyone who buys one into a queue-jumping lane-switching in-pushing speed-limit-ignoring rude aggressive dangerous tailgating roadhog. One sees them, and suffers from them, every single day.

The kind of cars you drive, Tom, are in a different class entirely. Apart from anything else, I am sure you drive like a gentleman. Enjoy your trip to Scotland, the spring weather is here and we have some wonderful driving roads.

Oh, and don't give up blogging, please; what you say about the masses is true, but we're not yet all of us braindead - let's at least keep the conversation going.

Very well said.

My (qualified) support for computer-controlled cars has more to do with efficiency and convenience than safety. I definitely think they have their place.

I remember an episode of Top Gear where they interviewed American talk-show host Jay Leno. He made the point that the motorcar put thousands of horses out of work, but enthusiasts switched to riding horses for the pleasure of it.

They were discussing electric cars vs petrol, but I think it's even more true for computer-driven cars. Let the robo-taxi take you home from the pub when you've had too many, and ferry you comfortably from door-to-door on your daily commute (while you read a book). Take the Ferrari out for blasts on human-driven country roads (some of which could be reserved for driving pleasure - free of cyclists, ramblers, caravans, lorries, tractors, and oncoming traffic).

"I find it beyond unstimulating to be back in Britain. There is such a very limited spectrum of opinion here. Surrounded by sheep too docile to bleat out of turn"

It is depressing indeed.

The BBC occasionally offers stimulation, but not the healthy sort. The spectrum of opinion there isn't quite so limited as in everyday conversation: it runs from centre-left all the way to extreme left.

"I miss the hope of the Labour days. Not the hope that they would ever cease (they won't) to be freedom-hating miserablists, but the hope that one day change might come."

Well said. I couldn't bring myself to vote Conservative last time around (I gave my vote to UKIP instead), but I did feel a glimmer of hope when Gordo finally left Number 10.

I now think 5 years of Labour, awful as it would be, could be a price worth paying for the destruction of the faux-Conservatives. But really I don't think we'll be free until the welfare state collapses under the weight of its own contradictions, and even then I'm not sure we'll choose the right path.

I use most forms of (private) transportation to get around Oxford (walking, cycling, driving, and motorcycling), and I've seen the inevitable conflicts that arise from all sides.

Like Jackart, I'm not afraid to jump red lights when cycling -- it's often the safest thing to do. But I occasionally annoy cyclists by filtering to the front of the queue on my motorbike, and occupying a small part of the space designated for bicycles. No harm done. Can't we all just get along?

In my experience, buses are the main hazard for cyclists in town. Whenever possible, I use the tow path rather than the roads, but this puts me in conflict with pedestrians who feel a God-given right to walk three-abreast. Ring your bell an you'll annoy some people; fail to ring it and you'll annoy others.

Out of town, I have to say that I have very little sympathy for cyclists who tie up country roads, especially when things get hilly. They seem to share the arrogance of caravan drivers, secure in their entitlement to road use, crawling along with no regard to the queues forming behind them.

It comes down to this: whatever their chosen mode of transportation, many people are careless, thoughtless, self-centred, and intolerant. Basically, people are jerks. I think the best solution is separation.

I can't agree with Jackart's suggestion that "our lizard-brains simply can't cope" with driving. It's amazing how quickly one adapts to triple-digit speeds, and how slow 80 or 90 can feel afterwards.

What we need is separation between commuter roads (which can be as computer-controlled as you like) and fun roads (which can be more like race courses, with one-way traffic, limited access, and no speed limits).

It baffles me how Jackart posts such sense on most economic subjects, but turns into a lefty loon when it comes to transport.