Auto Express – August 20, 2019

114 SpecialIssue http://www.autoexpress.co.uk

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Wednesday28Aug

DRIVEN

Irevealed thatmy

88-year-old father

occasionallyparks

in parent-and-child

bays when he takes

me shopping

Do youagree with Mike?

Have your sayatfacebook.com/autoexpress @The_Rutherford

DRIVEN

TESTED

Rutherford

Mike

●

Newsl Producttests

Drivesl Features &Sport

Taycanontheroad

MercedesEQC

vsAudie-tron

NewSkodaKamiq

smallSUVrated

CanCzech crossovertakethe fight

to Citroen C3 Aircross? We find out

We’rebehind the wheel in Porsche’s

storming Model Srival forfirsttime

Electric SUVsdobattle,aswefind

out who makes the best luxury EV

LASTTuesday,between7amand9.30pm,Iwas

wheeledinbySky,theBBCandLBCtodiscuss

thefourbigmotoringissuesofthemoment.

ThefirsttopicwastherecentNationalGridpower

cutsthatincapacitatedlargepartsofEnglandand

Wales.ANorthSeawindfarmfailedatthesame

timeasapowerstationinCambridge.

IfthisishowtheNationalGriddeliverselectricity

duringthelow-demandsummerof2019,when

thereareonlyahandfulofelectricvehiclesaround,

howthehellcanwebeconfidentit’llcopewhen

tensofmillionsofEVsarepluggedinevery

summer,autumn,winterandspring?

Thisisthemostcruciallyimportantmotoring-

relatedquestionontheeveoftheelectriccar

revolution.Andsofar,atleast,theNationalGrid

doesn’tseemcapableofadequatelyansweringit.

Alsoguiltyofbeingunabletogivestraight

answerswasafullycommittedanti-carcampaigner

Idebatedwithliveonairthesameday.Hechoseto

givethefirmimpressiontolistenersthatBritain’sair

pollutioncrisisisatbestmostly,oratworstentirely,

downtoemissionsfromcars.Truthis,theprivatecar

isacomparativelysmallpartoftheoverallair-quality

problem.Withthatinmind,wouldourmotorist-

loathingfriendliketotellusabouttheindustries

andindividualswhocreatethevastmajorityof

toxicemissions?Er,no.Heflatlydeclined.

Onalighternote,anotherradiostationthataskedmetotalkaboutthemisuseof

parent-and-childparkingbaysatsupermarketsseemedtakenabackwhenIrevealed

thatmy88-year-olddadoccasionallyparksinthemwhenhetakesmeshopping.What’s

theproblem?He’smyfather.I’mhisson,sohimparkingupintheparent-and-child

baywhenI’mhispassengerseemslegitimatetome.

Backtomoreimportantmatters.IainDaleisarguablyBritain’sbest-informed,most

politicallyawareandsmartestreal-worldradiopresenter.AsaguestonhisLBCshow,I

arguedthattheTransportSelectCommitteeproposalforanewlawtomakehands-free

phonesasillegalashand-helddevices(Page18)isplainwrong.Laughable,almost.

Dalewentfurtherbysaying:“It’sapreposterousidea.Whatthiscross-partyselect

committeeisdoingislookingforacheapheadline.”

Initially,anIAMRoadsmart(formerlytheInstituteofAdvancedMotorists)

spokesmanbravelyswamagainstthetidebybackingtheplantoputhands-freephone

usersinthesameshameful,guilty-as-hellcampasthosewithhand-helddevices.But

Ipointedoutthatallegedoffenderschargedwiththe‘crime’ofusingtheirhands-free

phoneswhiledrivingwilldefendthemselvesbyclaimingtheyweresinging,talking

tothemselves,orgivingvoiceinstructionstotheirdash-mountedsat-navs.

“It’sanonsenseandit’sunenforceable,”Isaidonair.

“You’re100percentright,”wasIAMman’sinstant,honestreply.

Irestmycase.Anyfurthercommentfrommewouldbesuperfluous.

Motoring’smostoutspoken

andopinionatedcolumnist

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