To wonder why people 'don't drive'

[ZX81user]

..medical conditions aside.It is such a useful life skill.
I think it is part of a parent's responsibility to get their teen througj their test.

Op and ‘some’ previous poster have you considered that apart from the obvious disinterest in driving which is fine some people may have psychological reasons? Previous accidents etc and play a massive part. Why do people judge others? Some of the comments are very self righteous and smug to say the least.

they can *

I would like people to have the ability to drive not to drive everywhere within walking distance. But that’s because I live somewhere with bad transport and have very often been called upon to rescue someone who can’t drive as if I’m their mom. Everyone gets stuck every now and then but if it’s a regular occurrance it’s very childish. And mumsnet is full of posts from non drivers angry at drivers for not tending to their needs. They might not be posting on this thread but most drivers will have met them IRL too. There’s no need for someone in a big city to own a car, why would they.

It must be lovely if you can drive. You don’t know what prevents others from driving. Sometimes it’s not always choice. For instance my friend failed her test multiple times and then got left traumatised after a big accident and now ‘can’t/doesnt’ (who gives a toss on nitpicking won the terminology) drive. Ignorant smug people saying they won’t give a lift and don’t be a martyr seems pathetic.

with*

Still seems to me like you are being taken advantage of.

You don’t need to be rescuing the same people all the time they should get a taxi. Tell them that.

I find drivers foist lifts onto me wen I want to walk.

Ohmydays that’s so true. I can drive but people don’t understand why you would possible want to ‘walk.’ I drive but I don’t tend to have the car everyday. When I was at work colleagues would almost get offended that I didn’t want a lift despite saying I enjoy walking and listening to music. I find it clears my head.

Pass I cant drive on motorways after a bad crash so I totally get your friend.

What I can’t understand is other people insisting that anyone and everyone should drive and they are somehow selfish or stupid if they don’t.

Pass

Exactly agree it’s so hard to fob people off who insist on offering you lifts.

I love walking

And ‘rescuing’ seems extreme in an age where we have uber! Speaking of reading my sister needed assistance the other day when she got stranded on the motorway alittle while ago when she had ran out of petrol!!

People definitely do get offended if you don't take up their offer of a lift - it's really weird. It's the same reaction you get when you say you don't want a donut or slice of cake, who knows why.

How on earth do all these drivers cope if something's up with their car or they become unable to drive?

I do wonder about this. A few weeks ago there was a thread about elderly drivers being a danger on the roads, and the consensus seemed to be that they should be made to give up their licenses. Yet to so many posters on here driving is such an "essential life skill", a necessary key to freedom and essential adulthood, there's no wonder no one wants to give that up voluntarily! Do those who claim that they just couldn't function without cars think they themselves will never get old? Will they happily hand over their car keys and willingly condemn themselves to isolation and dependence?

This is not an anti-car rant (we rented one over the weekend to visit family and move large boxes and it was great), but as a society we've become waaaay more car-dependent in the last 30 or 40 years, and it's worth considering how that's going to affect us in the long term.

Exactly I don’t understand why they are so judgemental. Some are actually dumbfounded and in sheer disbelief that somebody doesn’t drive because they simply do not want to. I bet these are the same people who would complain about traffic congestion if we did all take cars everywhere!

*rescuing

Ohmydays so sorry for your crash. Walking is great and I will walk to as many places as humanly possible over driving and I love it!

Mrsfrumble It’s crazy isn’t it? They take the decline as a personal insult. My MIL used to tell dh I was being ‘difficult’ because I didn’t had any to eat a slice of her homemade pie. I had politely declined as i’d had a big lunch that day and wasn’t hungry coupled with the fact I didn’t like this particular pie filling (I left that part out)

wouldn’t eat* that should say

I grew up in Camden Town - No need to drive with the Tubes and Buses. I've moved out of central but still have no need to drive.

Whenever the snow is bad I get a right laugh on the bus as there are always some people who usually drive, and don't have a clue how to use the bus. You'd think looking up fares and timetables would be a pretty useful lifeskill

Paris my work colleague (taking the bus for the first time in years while her car was in the garage) was late for work one day. She’s only gone and got on the wrong bus and hadn’t realised until she was off the beating track and miles from work. The phone call asking me to look up the route for her on journey planner didn’t half make me chuckle

She’d*

It's the ones with the slightly indignant 'I don't take the bus' greeting to the driver that makes me laugh. He doesn't care dear, just pay the money and get on.

Haha ‘I don’t take the bus usually how much to go to....’ Driver gives a

I'm a driver and I certainly don't take offence if someone declines a lift or says they'd prefer to walk and get a breath of air.

But it's always amazing how every single non driver on these threads insists that they never, ever ask for or expect or even want a lift and that their non driving doesn't affect anyone but themselves.

Because in real life I know lots of non drivers who expect lifts, put other people out so that they can have a lift, put other family members under extra pressure vis a vis transporting elderly parents around because they can't take a turn, are always happy that there's a designated driver and they don't have to be the one sipping a soft drink all night etc.

Yes, there's lots of reasons why people don't choose to drive, some of them very valid ones. But please don't assume that non drivers don't often impact negatively on drivers. Because a lot of the time they do. Not all non drivers, obviously. But many non drivers who casually assume they're no trouble to anyone.

It is pretty bizzare... Non-drivers constantly say there are great transport links etc. But surely that's only true if you never wander off the beaten track? Even on the beaten track there are plenty of places you can't get to with public transport.