Boris Johnson's Narrow Escape

Dave, have you actually met Michael in person?

I have, and I can assure you that he is nothing like what you seem to assume.

It is in any case very bad form to jump from a small point like that to such personal insults.

The worst thing we can do on the streets is to assume that there's some sort of class war going on and adopt stereotypes of people just because we happen to encounter them while they're using a mode of transport that is different from ours.

Some drivers may only be using a car on that day and perhaps the only time that week or month. Many others are simply victims of a motor dependence from which they can't escape. As a user of a vastly superior mode of transport, you can afford to give them some consideration in view of this regrettable victimhood.

Yes, this driver was driving carelessly, and yes, he could have killed someone. However, instead of speculating over the appropriate level of blame for his actions, let's just be glad that he didn't actually kill anyone. Whatever the exact facts are of what happened, it was certainly a very unusual thing to happen.

Oliver I don't think that was Dave's point. He's trying to say, (and rightly so IMO) that the larger and more dangerous the vehicle, the greater responsibility the driver has to show care and pay attention. this applies regardless of how often the driver gets behind the wheel.

I think it is possible to demarcate behaviour and consequence, and recognise that people hold responsibility for both.