Quentin Willson obituary

Motoring journalist and presenter of the BBC’s Top Gear and Channel 5’s Fifth Gear who became an advocate of electric cars

Quentin Willson, who has died aged 68 after suffering from lung cancer, was a secondhand car dealer in business with his twin brother Ashley when he was chosen in 1991 to join the presenting team on BBC television’s motoring magazine show Top Gear as the used-car expert.

He was informative and intelligent, with a wry delivery, sardonic smile and scathing comments. While praising the perennially popular MGB sports car for both its road-holding and price-holding abilities, he described Jaguars as “the domain of spivs, crooks and bookmakers” in earlier times.

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The car made pedestrians second-class citizens. Don’t let driverless vehicles push us off the road altogether | Adam Tranter

If we want autonomous tech to succeed it must be designed to share space with us, rather than forcing us to adapt to it Adam Tranter is the co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast. He was formerly West Midlands cycling and walking commissioner under mayor Andy Street This week, the UK government announced its plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK. One of the key companies involved noted that London presents a significant challenge: “It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.” There’s more than one problem with that statement – and it encapsulates so much of what’s already going wrong in the adoption of driverless cars. For a start, “jaywalking” isn’t even a thing in the UK. We thankfully have no such concept or offence. Unlike in many US cities, pedestrians here are free to cross the road wherever they see fit. And thank goodness for that. Adam Tranter is the co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast. He was formerly West Midlands cycling and walking co...

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