Cars
- FLUKE asserts the sheer UTILITY of a family-size, UK-weatherproof box-on-wheels transportation device available at the instant, exclusive, elective and discretionary use of the owner
- FLUKE further asserts people would regard its LOSS as a massive reduction in their quality-of-life
- FLUKE predicts UK car ownership will be over 40 million by 2040 Analysis of UK motor statistics and projections of future use
There are alternatives to car ownership - in a command economy. In 1961 the Russian Ministry of Transport embarked on a large scale program of car rental centres. But the system suffered from poor organisation and bureaucratic inefficiencies. There were never enough cars available and the shortage of spare parts and trained service mechanics meant they were frequently off the road.[1]
Yet by 1986 the demand for cars was high, despite the high price for purchase and maintenance. Soviet drivers advanced two reasons for this. In the cities, where two-thirds of Soviet car owners lived, new housing projects were often a long way from work. But leisure trips outside the city on days off, not access to work was the main reason advanced by 56 percent of Soviet citizens who were asked why they bought a car. Only 10 percent of those questioned said shorter travelling time to work was their prime motive.
The French 'Gilets Jaunes'[2] protests that began in 2018 motivated by rising fuel prices demonstrate the limited power of democratic states to impose measures - albeit well-intentioned - to inhibit fossil fuel use for personal transport - without providing economic alternatives