I have gone through the last week being, in turns, mentally drained (finished my Big Article in The Earth Blog on Thursday), sunburnt (swimming in the sea at Margate, foolishly without suncream on my shoulders), trying to be sober (my uncle and aunt’s 20th wedding anniversary) and, as usual, throughly downtrodden by the spewed out guts of humanity that comprises much of south Essex.

It may be normal to those people used to the SUV and 4×4 as being the economic end of the vehicle market, but this is what makes me sad:

I got this photo from a US car retailer who seems to pride themselves in their bull bars. There are lots in Essex, because they make drivers feel big and strong. I get the feeling that some people have a problem with just being fleshy and human, so they have to encase themselves in metal – BIG METAL – GOD DAMN HUGE METAL WITH SPIKES ON IT!!!

My children are 7 and 8, both girls, both sensible and trustworthy, and soon may be trusted to walk down the road on their own. I trust them. I don’t trust the people who drive these things, and who can blame me? Why should I trust someone who deliberately tries to make their vehicle as dangerous as possible to pedestrians?

As from 2006, bull bars on new vehicles are illegal. Living here inspires me to do good in the face of hopelessness, but it also makes me cross, so I will be moving away soon – because the locals still would like to have bull bars, and I don’t trust people like that.

I will be a bit less angry next time – honest.

K.