The idea for Sheffield’s Drive to Work came from an In Town Without My Car day several years ago. Once again, in a tedious and tokenistic fashion, we were being exhorted by by busy-body faceless unelected EU mandarins to leave our cars at home and walk (too slow) take the bus (too smelly) or cycle (much too smelly) to work.

A bunch of us were in the pub after yet another tedious bike ride around town chanting “hah hah! We don’t pay road tax!” and deliberately falling off our bikes in front of motor cars  and an enlightened council officer, who’d seen through the charade, said “what we really need is a DRIVE to work day!” That’s right we thought, that would show those pesky cyclists, sheep-like bus passengers and miserable snail-like pedestrians what’s what.

The idea went in the boot of the car (that’s trunk of the station wagon to our US readers) until David Dansky, an ardent motorist from London, had the same idea and set up a Drive to Work Day Facebook page. We saw that and thought, well as Sheffield always slavishly follows what London is doing, let’s go for it! So now we have our own Facebook page and this website, and it’s a case of gentlemen, start your engines!