My take: driving is bad for our cities, our environment, our climate.

Some people, for a bunch of reasons, have to do it. They shouldn't feel bad about that.

But all those who are making the choice to drive when other options are available? It's a different story.

From talking to folk about LTNs, active travel and liveable cities it's so clear that some people just think there's nothing wrong with driving. That it's a neutral choice that doesn't impact anyone but themselves.

That's just not true.

The choice to get in a car is one that affects everyone who uses the streets you drive on and who breathes the air you pollute (yes, even if you drive an electric car).

The choice to get in a car is one that affects how independent the children who grow up in your neighbourhood are likely to be -- and how far from home their parents will feel safe letting them explore.

The choice to get in a car is one that affects how connected your community is, how likely people are to know their neighbours, and even how many friends those in your neighbourhood have.

The choice to get in a car is one that affects those who don't have a choice but to use one.

How much congestion will they have to sit in, made up of people who could be getting around by another means?

The choice to get in a car is one that affects what our cities are used for, how much space we allocate for their storage over other things like green spaces, food production spaces, playgrounds, places to stop and rest.

The choice to get in a car even affects the cost of housing in your neighbourhood, with space to move and store cars taking away precious space that could otherwise be used for housing.

We can't keep pretending the choice to drive is one that isn't harmful to make.

And we can't pretend that those who think it isn't will change their mind of their own accord -- without any push from anyone else.

We didn't reduce the number of people smoking by just hoping people would change.

We did it by explaining how harmful smoking was, while at the same time making it more expensive, and impossible to do in most situations.

Driving is the new smoking.

We need to tackle it the same way.