To think that people that drive diesel cars know that they're killing children

[dieselKiller]

Diesel cars are destroying our towns and villages. The health effects on kids are particularly bad. People must know this by now. So AIBU to think that people who drive diesel cars know that they're killing kids (and everyone really)?

It's like smoking: it's not possible to smoke in public without affecting others' health. This seems to have been accepted by most people. What makes diesel different?

Lethaldrizzle, I didn't say it wasn't. However I am still not convinced that when driven rurally they contribute more than petrol engines. However, I maintain that the point which the OP seized upon was a point I was making about her intentions to demonise diesel drivers. I thought she was being disingenuous in stating that this was not her intention, bearing in mind the emotive language used in her OP.

Extremely provocative title..modern diesels produced to the euro6 standard produce pretty similar emissions to a petrol as I was advised. That's why I have to pay an additional £20 every year to fill a tank of urea to absorb the poisonous nitrogen based emissions and trap them as relatively harmless ammonia.

So, if your general point is that the use of cars is bad for towns, villages, kids and everyone really, then you're really just making the rather facile point that cars produce pollution, in which case YABU.

If you want a discussion about how cars can be used less then YANBU, but don't make believe that it's because we're poisoning people and destroying the world.

There's a tendency for people not to want to face up to serious issues. And when presented with a serious question some people want the question to be rephrased so it doesn't sound so serious.

Rephrasing the question doesn't change the underlying facts though.

Either diesel cars are more hazardous to human health or they are not. Either diesel car drivers know this or they do not.

I get that many people want to believe that diesel is not hazardous or that drivers don't know it's hazardous or that if they do know it's hazardous that there's literally nothing that can be done to improve the situation. But this is a combination of wishful thinking, denial, and learned helplessness.

I'm here to tell you things can change, but it takes people to make the change.

We live in a complex world of interrelated systems. If you were missold a diesel, you're not to blame for that. But you're not going to get justice and cleaner air to breathe by pretending nothing's wrong.

Don't get mad at me for pointing this out. Get mad at the car manufacturers and the government that put you in this mess.

Thanks for listening!

Either diesel cars are more hazardous to human health or they are not. Either diesel car drivers know this or they do not.

That is just bolllocks as you well know. As plenty of posters have pointed out, it is not that simple.

As nobody will answer my question about rural driving, I'm going to assume that I am right and driving my low-emission diesel car in the countryside is, on balance, less environmentally damaging than driving a petrol car. Hope that's okay with everyone!

That's cool, OP. If you want to give everyone with a diesel car the money they paid for it, then that would get them off the road much more quickly.

(You could always ask makeourfuture where the money is coming from to nationalise all public transport; that must be a bottomless pit )

There's at least two cities (the capital of Estonia is one, and a Belgian city is another, can't remember the name) where they have made all public transport free, and by all accounts it's been a roaring success.

Oddly enough, the American cities that have tried it didn't report it going well, partly because richer people went back to using their cars rather than use a free service! Which seems mad, frankly.

Archery - interesting!! Reverse snobbery? Public transport became more crowded? Wonder why!

I have to tow a trailer, I need a 4x4 as I also need to go off road on the farm. When they make a 4x4 electric vehicle I would gladly change it

I take the bus. Soz about the crowdfunding child murder.

Many people bought diesel cars a decade ago as they were told it was greener and more efficient. They now can't afford to just trot off and get a petrol one.
Yabu to go around calling diesel drivers intentional child killers. How weird.

ArcheryAnnie - in previous threads about wheelchairs vs. prams (which you have argued on the side of prams), you had a discussion with me regarding having to use public transport with your pram, as you had no other choice due to your disabilities.
To now infer that you don't drive anymore because it is more environmentally friendly and a choice you have made on that reason, is a little disingenuous.

What about planes and cruise ships? OP how do you get about, do you have an electric car? Do you holiday abroad? Do you make sure all your food you buy is locally supplied?

We have a diesel car. Got it before we were told how awful diesel cars are. It’s a company car, we can’t get a new one until the lease ends next year. There’s really not much we can do about it in the meantime apart from walk as much as possible (which we do anyway, because we enjoy the exercise).

Personally I intend to knit my own electric car out of yoghurt. Which I will make from my own breast milk, naturally.

Based on the recent developments about how damaging diesel cars are we have recently replaced our 10yr old diesel with an electric car.

I’m glad that there are companies out there pushing the fully electric car forward as I do think this is the future. Yes they can’t do quite what a diesel can in towing capacity, although mine tows 2.5 tonnes which isn’t too shabby. The main problem is that they are so expensive that they are not yet accessible for the masses. Hopefully this will change in the next few years and more people will be able to make this decision too.

It won’t be long before the first electric semi truck is on the roads in America. So hopefully we will get the same here too in time.

I'll pm you my bank account details and expect a transfer for the cost of a brand new eco car then. It will need to have 5 doors and a decent boot...

No? I thought not...

Oddly enough, the American cities that have tried it didn't report it going well, partly because richer people went back to using their cars rather than use a free service! Which seems mad, frankly.

Not if you’ve ever been on a bus in a less salubrious bit of the USA...😁 no one rides the bus if they can avoid in many places

Hmm, based on the OP's name, the fact that the post is so provocative and that this is their first ever post, I'm guessing journo!

Rebecca maybe when the time comes for you to get a new car then you might make a more informed choicesbased on the information you now have. I think that's all one can do. Not sure what breast milk has to do with it

cruise ships

Environmental nightmare

The OP is not a journo, I'm sure.

Journalists normally introduce themselves upfront (unless they have a very good reason to go undercover).

I think she said elsewhere on the thread she was a name changer.

People that live in glass houses. We are all doing our bit to kill children, our selfs, the planet etc. For example what impact on the carbon footprint is your lifestyle and the products you buy having? Who's health is being damaged and who's labour is being exploited for the life you live? I think you can just demonise diesel drivers (who probably bought them for the right environmental reason) unless you live a life with nothing but what you have taken, made and eaten off the land around you. And personally I don't know anyone who lives like before industrialised times.

Seattle used to have a free ride zone on the buses in the downtown core. Seattle also has a large population of people with substance abuse and mental health problems. I think they decided the combination was not helping the goal of reducing car traffic, so there is now no free ride zone in Seattle.

I'm not a journo. Nor a student or researcher. I'm a long-time reader, first-time poster who got choked by diesel fumes one too many times to keep quiet about it.