Why driving could be the new smoking

There was a time when driving meant freedom. Now it sometimes feels like a guilty pleasure – something to whisper about rather than boast. Like admitting you still smoke, or that you secretly enjoy reruns of Clarkson-era Top Gear. Cars haven’t changed all that much in 10 years, but the way people talk about them – the way people talk about you for liking them – that definitely has. Not among the Ti community and other likeminded souls of course. But out there, in public.

You see it everywhere. Headlines shaming 20mph zone ‘raids’. Councils too skint to fill potholes but somehow more than wealthy enough for any amount of ANPR cameras and ULEZ signage. TikTok teens calling car meets ‘lame’. Even at the pub, among my generation at least, the moment someone mentions they like V8s, someone else rolls their eyes and mutters something about climate change. Being into cars is starting to feel like you’ve missed a cultural memo: that we’re supposed to be past all this now. Supposed to be zipping quietly around in pods, talking about carbon credits, silently judging anyone who still enjoys a nicely timed downshift.

I think it started in the early 2010s though as I was still in short trousers at the time it’s hard to pin down the date more precisely. But this is when EVs were slowly gaining at least some traction. The early hype around Tesla, the push from governments, the eco-piety of influencers who wouldn’t know a limited-slip diff if it ran them over – it all started to warp public perception. Suddenly, enjoying petrol felt dated. Wrong, even. Something that made people twitch.