There are very few countries in the world that would accept the petrol prices that are imposed on the British public. The AA motoring trust, who also offer breakdown cover, have quoted that the average price of unleaded petrol per gallon now stands at 96.13p.

Could you imaging the population of the USA standing for such costs? I don't think so.

Even small foreign islands with huge distribution costs seem to be able to provide a gallon cheaper than here in the UK. Of course the government just gets away with it because of the necessity to own and run a car. Even with petrol at £5 a gallon, has not reduced the amount of car owners and the daily traffic jams across the country.

There is an argument that with poor public transport, being a car owner is now a necessity rather than a privilege and I agree. I don't think I have ever had a journey on a UK train that arrived on time. In Switzerland you could set your watch by the arrival of any train.

The trouble is I think we are too used with using and having our cars now. So even if the public transport system was improved, would we use it? I know I couldn't anymore.

So its back to counting the pennies, looking at fuel efficient cars and grinning and bearing.