OUR front page raising concerns about the new layout of one of the city’s busiest traffic islands got me thinking.

However, my thoughts were not necessarily about the safety of the Whittington roundabout but rather how much I actually hate driving.

A number of drivers have been critical of the £1.3 million junction but county council traffic engineers say it meets national standards, so we’ll look at that another day.

So, back to my grumble... I don’t claim to be a faultless driver – no one who passes their test on April Fool’s Day possibly could – just someone who is continually exasperated by the lack of care which is seemingly taken on our roads.

Some people’s total disregard for other road users really makes me wonder how they once managed to impress an instructor enough to secure a valid licence.

In a quiet moment at the weekend my mind wandered to possible solutions to the problem of haphazard manoeuvres, lack of indication and a complete disregard for speed limits.

One of the ideas was a fleet of robotdriven vehicles, which would allow people to aimlessly stare out of windows, text and generally not pay attention to their heart’s content.

But it also poses problems of its own.

Take the taxis in the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Total Recall, for example – they were nothing more than glorified golf buggies with an irritating animatronic crash test dummy at the helm.

If the film’s pedestrian car chase is anything to go by, we would all have to set off for work a week early and arrive suffering from severe claustrophobia.

With that plan quickly abandoned in Hollywood’s dated imagination of Mars, I moved onto Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report for inspiration.

Being able to have a regulated and self-guided mode of transport sounds like my cup of tea, especially as everyone else would be in the same boat, making the daily commute hassle free.

Where is the problem with futuristic and luxurious cars that can go up and down the side of buildings?

The answer is Tom Cruise. I don’t fancy encouraging anyone, let alone an actor/scientologist, to leap about between magnetised pods hurtling along set courses.

Having shot my own alternatives to bits, it looks like the necessary evil of taking to the road to get about will have to stay in our hands until it becomes mandatory to drive at that standard which saw you pass your driving test.