Journal Reader Chris Gooderham tries a day without the car

HOW can I survive without my car? It may sound a silly question, but I don't believe it is actually possible.

I have two daughters; one is three years old and the other three months old. Recently I took a day off work and proposed to take our three year old to pre-school on the back of my bike. I cycle regularly, and since pre-school is only two miles away it didn't seem a difficult task. How wrong I was.

Starting from Wyre Piddle heading for Pinvin, we had to use the main road and were almost killed on numerous occasions. The railway bridge as you leave Wyre was the worst. A narrow road on a blind corner with double white lines down the middle of the road didn't seem to put off the 'must overtake, don't use the brake' car brigade. I thought that with a young child on the back of my bike, drivers would be more considerate. Some hope.

Later that day my wife and I decided to walk to pre-school to pick up our daughter. Again it didn't seem a difficult task. Again, how wrong I was. There is no footpath for much of the journey, and although the above mentioned bridge has a footpath, it is just a foot wide. The rest is only two feet wide. With a pushchair you feel constantly at risk, and for a long stretch you are forced to walk on the road. The public right of way through the fields cannot be passed with a pushchair. In the end we were forced to return home, collect our car and drive. Very sad.

I'd like to offer a challenge to any local MP to come and see how bad things actually are. Can you walk or cycle from Wyre to Pinvin without fearing for your life? There is one alternative (other than the elusive bypass). If everyone in Wyre Piddle parked their car on the main road, traffic would be forced to slow down and we could create a barrier between the footpath and the road.

We have recently seen complaints about the price of petrol. Unfortunately it is our love of cars, which has changed our country so drastically. The car is king, we no longer have cars as a luxury, but we are forced to have them in order to survive.

I cycle to work in Worcester on a regular basis, however it is not safe for me to take my children with me. There are no cycle tracks, very few footpaths, the majority of which are poorly maintained, and thousands of inconsiderate, 'must go faster' drivers on the road.

Perhaps if there were alternatives people would be able to leave the car at home, and maybe that would reverse the 'car is king' trend. In order to do this we need to see safe cycle routes, maintained footpaths, shower facilities at workplaces, better public transport going where you want it to go, when you want it.

If taxes have to be increased in order to achieve this then it seems a small price to pay. Unfortunately, the money from petrol taxes doesn't go back to these areas, if anything it goes to improve roads so that car use is even more attractive.

With our constant demand to get around as quickly as possible what hope is there for us in the future? We will continue to sit like zombies in our metal fortresses, gradually gassing ourselves to death.