Edinburgh 20mph zone will drive us all around the bend

Fuelled in part by the welcome drop in the price of filling up, new car sales in Scotland last year roared ahead of the previous year’s figures.

An astonishing 221,570 were sold and December’s sales figures alone jumped a record 27%.

Great news for all concerned. Consumers, manufacturers and of course the dealers whose once desperate and depressed showrooms are now as busy as a pit stop in a grand prix.

Well, great news unless, of course, you want to put the pedal to the metal in your shiny new brief and take a spin through the historic thoroughfares of Edinburgh.

Not content with driving motorists mad with their barmy bus, tram and cycle lanes, the endless road works and confusing signage the car-hating, cycle-crusading, money-wasting, PC eco warriors from the cooncil, led by Labour’s transport dipstick Lesley Hinds, have decided that “after public consultation” the speed limit across the city should now be no more than a brain bleeding 20mph!

And here was me thinking crackers were only for Christmas.

It gets worse. She drives her boot in further by announcing that free parking on a Sunday will also be stopped, citing unrestricted chaotic parking as the reason.

Honestly, someone should tell this woman to belt up and have the brakes slammed on her before she causes any more harm and misery to both local traders and beleaguered motorists.

She claims these new restrictions are a radical way forward that will improve Edinburgh’s air quality and make it safer for both the motorist and pedestrian. Oh, and not forgetting the oft mollycoddled, pavement-cruising cyclist.

Well I can think of a word that ends in “al” and it ain’t radical that describes this crazed plan. Where are the facts, the stats, the proof that there ever was a danger needing addressed in the first place?

As for improving air quality, can Councillor Hinds please give me her reasoning behind her nonsensical belief that slowing down exhaust-spewing traffic to speeds that my granny’s mobility scooter could exceed will improve air quality?

If idling your car is banned why will driving at a snail’s pace be allowed? Believe me, this ridiculous measure will only add to the problem of congestion and air pollution, not lessen it.

Then there’s the cost of the new signs and enforcement to be considered. Right enough given Edinburgh council’s recent generosity with taxpayers’ money when building, sorry, making a mess of the whole tram project, cost is the last thing they think of.

Money, it seems, is no object especially when it’s not theirs!

Forget exhaust emissions, I’m fuming! And the fact Lesley Hinds is now also on the board of the capital’s flagging bus group speaks volumes of where her transport priorities really lie.

What is it that she and other like-minded car-hating public officials don’t get? People save, borrow and buy cars because they like driving and the freedom it gives them.

They don’t like unreliable public transport and they certainly don’t like being fleeced for choosing to drive a motor.

Driving contributes to the local economy by bringing shoppers and visitors into the town. Being targeted by unfair taxes and punitive penalties only drives them away to shop elsewhere.

As for her plea for other cities to adopt her new restrictions, sadly you can be sure they have already by-passed any other transport plans or initiatives they had in place and will adopt them once they have flounced out of their paid-for limos.

If I had my way I would have them all bouncing to work on space hoppers seems to work in Dundee!

As for Lesley and her team, the next election will hopefully have the electorate voting with their very tired feet and saying “oil change” to the lot of them.