Your editorial (22 January) about the antisocial aspects of SUVs and other large cars calls to mind the time when the congestion charge was introduced in London under the aegis of Ken Livingstone. I wrote to him suggesting that the charge should be based on the length of car, pointing out, for example, that you could get two Minis in a meter bay but only one Ford Cortina or Rolls-Royce. If the charge was truly designed to combat congestion as he claimed, the charge should be based on the amount of road space occupied. I never got an answer.
Robert Parkhill
London
• Some honesty in advertising might help people think more about the problems of modern car ownership. The Advertising Standards Authority should require that any advert showing a car on the open road or in a glamorous location cannot be repeated until it has been followed by a complete series showing the car jammed into a multi-storey space; circling a full car park; parked on the pavement in a street full of cars; standing at the lights; creeping in urban traffic with passing bicycles; and on a crowded motorway.
Steve Loveman
Sheffield
