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He might also have done more to ease traffic conditions. Anyone who lives in London will tell you that the congestion charge is almost useless. Even Transport for London has predicted a 60 per cent rise in congestion by 2031. So why not come up with a more radical solution? How long will it be before private cars are removed from cities altogether? Hamburg has vowed to become traffic-free in 20 years. In Paris, pollution fell 30 per cent when cars were banned, and traffic-free days, including along our own Oxford Street, are becoming increasingly popular. I spend more and more time in Venice which is of course a special case, but I’ve come to realise that a large part of the joy of being there is the silence, the absence of motor cars. Give us black cabs, buses, bicycles (with safer bicycle lanes) and deliveries restricted to certain hours. I really believe that this is the future and, indeed, that I will see it in my lifetime.
One simple answer to transport problems is staring us in the face — and I’m baffled why nobody has considered it. I’m talking about the much maligned Segway, the two-wheeled machine that makes users look like refugees from a Fifties science-fiction film. Twice this year, in Prague and Los Angeles, I have ridden them and I can tell you . . . they’re wonderful! Safe and silent, they whizz along, uphill and down, at a gentle pace and seem to respond almost telepathically to your commands. Even my cynical and style-conscious sons were both won over. Despite being environmentally friendly and extremely cost-effective, the Segway is banned in every major city — even the new version, which comprises just two wheels and a platform. It’s true that Jimi Heselden, the millionaire owner of the company that makes Segways, died in one of the only Segway accidents on record; a personal tragedy and a catastrophe in terms of PR. But surely we could at least have a reasoned debate on the subject? Why has this little miracle been consigned to tourists and shopping-mall police?
Another invention that doesn’t seem to be doing too well is the Kindle. According to Waterstones, sales of the e-reader have virtually disappeared, while in America, the Nook is losing $70 million a year. I’m not sure whether this is something to mourn or to celebrate; a triumph of bibliophilia over the new technology or the loss of an opportunity to promote reading. My old Kindle is useful on planes, but the technology is actually quite clumsy: the pages sometimes refuse to swipe and I’ve never quite got used to finding my place at ‘location 15,597’ or wherever. Anyway, I’ve always believed that books have an aesthetic quality, that they are more than the sum of their contents. I notice more and more bookshops are selling handsomely bound volumes of classics and the demand for signed copies seems to be insatiable. It’s really quite comforting that literature survives on its own terms in this technological age.
I’ll be skiing in Italy over Christmas. At least, I will be if there’s any snow. If not, I will walk in the hills and think about the year. I turned 60. My play, Dinner with Saddam, divided the critics. My wife became seriously ill but got better. I suppose the same could be said for Greece — where I spent most of the summer. If years have characters, 2015 was a touch temperamental, generally. As 2016 approaches, I hope it will be a kind one for us all.
Because you read about boris johnson
Also by Anthony Horowitz
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