ADRIAN Kibbler wonders if the time has finally come to say that enough is enough when it comes to clobbering the motorist.

A RECENT press release from The Green Party in South Shropshire was calling for the imposition of 20mph limits on roads outside schools and in built-up areas.

The reasoning behind this demand is that if you hit someone at 20mph you are less likely to kill them than if you are travelling at 30mph.

People of a certain age will recall the comedy ‘Fawlty Towers’ in which following a diatribe from his troublesome wife, Basil suggest that she should be a contestant on Mastermind with her specialist subject ‘the bleeding obvious'.

The Green Party press release put me in mind of Basil Fawlty and lacked the information that I really needed to know,

And that is how many serious accidents have there been in Ludlow and south Shropshire which can be attributed to excessive speed near schools..

Of course, if a car hits someone at 20mph they will, in all probability, do less harm than at 30mph but then it will be even less if the vehicle is doing 10mph or, even better, not moving at all.

This is, of course, where some people would like us to be with all cars off the road excepting perhaps the small number who can afford a Prius or some other hybrid or electric vehicle.

The extraction of the materials for the batteries of hybrids and electric cars, together with their disposal, is a huge environmental issue that all too easily gets forgotten or ignored.

Let me say that I am a great fan of the internal combustion engine which I believe has been one of the great liberating forces of the past 120 years.

It has changed millions of lives across the world for the better.

All of this is not to say that, where possible, it should not be made more efficient and less damaging to the environment.

But this has been going on for a long time and continues.

Petrol and diesel engines are much more efficient and cleaner than they ever have been.

But let us be clear. The internal combustion engine and, in particular, the diesel is going to be with us for a long time. Ninety-four per cent of the goods transported in this world on lorries, ships, trains, car and vans depend upon the diesel engine and this is not about to change anytime soon.

The generating of electricity does not come without an environmental cost and there is only so much that can come from solar and wind power.

Using the tides to generate electricity has huge potential but the capital costs are massive and, even in this case, there are environmental issues such as the impact upon the movement of fish.

The key problem with electricity is storage. Our present battery technology is hugely inefficient.

In time, when this problem is solved and the hydrogen cell properly developed and commercially viable, it may be possible to confine vehicles powered by petrol or diesel to the museum. But that is a long way off.

Until then, my message is to get off the backs of motorists who pay massively through taxation to use cars which are, for most of us, a necessity rather than a luxury.