storm clouds ahead for drivers?

Petrol prices are starting to creep up again after their temporary fall back after a quiet hurricane season in the US. Most UK garages are now selling at or over the 90p/litre mark. UK drivers face a lot of challenges over the next few years with congestion charging, national road pricing, no new road building (now surely a thing of the past?) and an inexorable rise in petrol prices followed by rationing within 5 to 10 years.

This is a good time for all of us to see if we really need a car. Driving's no longer a pleasure. The roads are beginning to fall apart as investment is switched from roads to public transport. The future Conservative government are likely to be even more anti-car than the current one (although that would not be difficult!) but only the BNP seem to take the threat of Peak Oil seriously. That is likely to change over the next few years as Peak Oil knocks Climate Change off the top of the agenda, at least in the energy-poor UK.