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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to say that students shouldn't own cars?

225 replies

carlajean · 23/02/2015 08:42

I'm living in Bristol, which is rolling out Residents Parking Schemes throughout the city (an excellent idea, I think). We have lots of students here, which is great, but many of them own cars. If they didn't, the streets would be considerably quieter. I know that other universities tell students that they can't have cars, and I really can't see why they would need them, and it would be a good way of helping with parking problems .

OP posts:
EdSheeran · 23/02/2015 09:30

I'm interested to know what you do, OP that makes you more worthy of a car than university students.

SurlyCue · 23/02/2015 09:39

I live next to a primary school. At pick up/drop off times it is impossible to get parked anywhere near my house. I would like all parents (apart from me cause im special) to be stripped of their driving licenses.

thankfully i never need to be at my house at drop off and pick up times as i'm at university 90 minutes away with my car

ThingummyJigg · 23/02/2015 09:40

What a very odd pov, OP.

Who are you to decide whether someone else has the right to own a car? Is it because you suffered without one, therefore everyone else should?

Perhaps you could move to somewhere less studenty.

givemushypeasachance · 23/02/2015 09:47

I'm surprised the OP hasn't mentioned the council tax issue. Surely if you're going to particularly pick on students to be prevented from using certain local authority services, the fact that they don't have to pay council tax would be one of the obvious hooks to hang your argument on.

Don't let 'em use libraries or have their recycling collected either, and have the street lights switched off in the student housing areas. Scroungers.

MythicalKings · 23/02/2015 09:51

They are residents and are as entitled to a permit as you are. YABVU.

00100001 · 23/02/2015 09:51

YABVVVVVVVVVU

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 23/02/2015 09:56

Actually I've just looked out the window and mine is the only car currently parked on the street. So I'm assuming the students must use theirs fairly regularly. Since resident parking has been introduced we've only really struggled to park on a Sunday, and that seems to be because there are lots of cars with visitors permits in the window.

Littleturkish · 23/02/2015 10:07

YABAKOU (you are being all kinds of unreasonable)

  1. Everyone's circumstances are different, they might need a car much more than you do.
  2. Freedoms to own whatever possession we wish- Bristol could ban student parking, but can't ban car ownership. How many people wouldn't apply if they couldn't park on campus? It would inhibit those getting cheaper rents by living out of the city.
  3. Assuming because YOU did something, EVERYONE can do it too. So what if you didn't have a car? What's your point? Totally invalid argument. You are not current students and you do not go to university today.

YANBU to think they should limit the number of car permits per house- they do that where I live and it is three per house maximum for parking.

DonnaTheKamikaze · 23/02/2015 10:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sparechange · 23/02/2015 10:23

OP, would you like to state your case for why you should be allowed a car?
MN jury can then decide if you are worthy of a permit or not

Gregorianchant · 23/02/2015 10:34

Maybe we should ban women drivers like they do in Saudi - that would dramatically reduce the parking problems overnight.

Or are you a woman OP, in which case you would probably not be in favour of this suggestion?

PunkrockerGirl · 23/02/2015 10:43

They pay rent so are residents whether you like it or not, OP.
Stupidest thread I've read for a long time, although we haven't had a student-bashing one for a while I suppose.
YABVVU.

FyreFly · 23/02/2015 10:46

When I wanted to visit home from uni it cost me £70 for a return on the train, and would take approximately 4-5 hours. My car (which is green so I don't pay VED on) could do that return twice for the £40 cost of a tank of petrol and would only take me 2.5 hours. Also saved me considerable stress when moving my furniture and allowed me to commute to my placement and museum stores around the south coast easily.

I loved having my car at uni :)

Lilymaid · 23/02/2015 10:47

when I was a student, nobody had a car
How old is OP? When I was a student in the first half of the 70s lots of students had cars and by the time I was a postgrad I had one myself.
Why are students less worthy of having a car than anyone else?

Gregorianchant · 23/02/2015 10:48

Perhaps she went to uni in a horse and cart?

TheFairyCaravan · 23/02/2015 10:52

YABU

DS2 is going to uni hopefully in Sept (he's at an interview right now) to do nursing. A couple of the uni's we went to for open days said some of the places them send for placements out in the community don't have reliable public transport, so they tend to send the students who have cars to them.

It was the same when I did my nursing 23 years ago.

The uni he had an interview at last week it wasn't necessary to take his car, and tbh it would be quicker to cycle from the halls to the medical school/ hospital.

flimmyflam · 23/02/2015 10:59

In my day Cambridge uni didn't "ban" cars they just didn't give students anywhere to park them and advised against bringing them because of the lack of parking in the centre. But some people had cars anyway, especially if they lived further out.

hettiebaby · 23/02/2015 11:02

I'm a student in Manchester and I love the fact I own a car! I don't know what I would do without it. I'd be unable to travel to work without the ridiculous hassle of a 2 bus hour journey, with my car it takes 15-20 minutes. Not all students have cars as they are an obvious expense. For those who consider it a priority enough to actually save up and buy one and are able to run one however.....why shouldn't we have the same right to the public roads as you?

pollyenta · 23/02/2015 11:09

Cars are expensive to run - most students don't have them unless they actually need them!

Comito · 23/02/2015 11:11

Erm YADBU big time. When I was a student I had a car because I didn't live in my university town and public transport was impossible for the hours I needed to be in the two separate towns.

I fail to see how any Uni would be able to ban students from having cars or be able to enforce it if they did.

flipchart · 23/02/2015 11:15

Jeez, when I was at High School in the early 80s quite a few of the 6th firm had there own cars! (Especially one of the guys that I fancied and he was so cool!)

Anyway,students don't need cars just to go to and from college you know! As long as a car is taxed and legal that's all that matters.

Sure I get its a PITA with being overcrowded but that's the way it is.

Siarie · 23/02/2015 11:17

I lived in your city next to a University and lived with students using residential roads as a car park. We stopped it by putting a scheme in place, it was getting unsafe. But you know YABU, it's the university that needs to make sure they can cater to the amount of students and increase their parking capacity.

PatriciaHolm · 23/02/2015 11:22

Oxford doesn't allow students in university owned accommodation to own cars, but they and Cambridge are the only ones I'm aware of that try to make that stipulation. It's hard to enforce though.

If the students are residents, then they are as entitled to a car as anyone.

Lj8893 · 23/02/2015 11:26

The op hasn't been back Hmm

ladymalfoy · 23/02/2015 11:27

YADBU.

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