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.

I don't drive because

1 I never passed the test
2 Even if I had I have awful hand eye coordination so wouldn't be able to react quickly if something happened
3 I couldn't afford a car
4 I would feel guilty about having a much larger carbon footprint than I currently have.

I don't live in a big city but there's plenty of public transport

I live on the outskirts of a city which has banned city centre driving unless you have a residents' permit (which I don't) so I can't actually drive into town which is the place I go to most.

I just hate being behind the wheel.

I've tried time and time again but I always stop before taking the practical test.

I got tired of people recommended 'wonderful, patient' driving instructors and ending up with irritable, impatient, sarcastic ones instead.

I am a very calm person, do not outwardly panic at anything and have never done anything terrible or serious like crashed or bumped a car or had a melt down. I am really not that hard to teach compared to some people.

My last instructor told me to do a specific thing at a junction then when a bus appeared from round the corner and changed the situation TOLD ME OFF for doing the very thing she told me to do!

I've passed my theory about 6 times!

HOWEVER...my husband is currently unable to drive very far and it's made me realise the importance of driving and how much it holds you back if you can't get anywhere so I AM intending to have another go!

I'm terrified of being in a car crash and dying or killing my daughter. I don't even like being the passenger in cars of people who've been driving me around since childhood - and they're good/confident drivers!

I also just think I'd be a danger to everyone else on the road as I'm likely to panic and also to 'zone-out' in my own head.

@flippyfloppyflower, I didn't say that ALL non drivers constantly blag lifts, but the majority of non drivers I know certainly do.

I'm actually shocked at the amount of non drivers on here. Obviously a huge percentage of mumsnetters live in large cities with amazing public transport, but a lot of others don't and they NEED to be able to drive and a lot of non drivers on here seem very defensive about it.

Personally I couldn't contemplate not having a car or being able to drive. My car was in the garage for about a week last year, and waiting for unreliable transport in the pouring rain isn't something I'd like to be doing on a daily basis.

if the weather is still nice tomorrow, then I'm planning on going to the beach. Hop in the car and it's about 1 1/2 hours away. How do people who don't drive do stuff like that? I know obviously there are trains etc to a lot of places, but to me it just seems so limiting, to not be able to go to places and to have to just go to certain ones because they're the only ones you can get too.

I agree with OP and I do think it's a life skill, like swimming or riding a bike, that if you CAN do it, then you SHOULD. It's much easier to learn when you're 17/18, all your mates are learning and you don't need to buy a car right away, if ever to be fair.

Unless you live in a big city, youre at a big disadvantage for jobs. I couldn't get to meetings without someone giving me a lift if i didn't drive. Even small cities, like the one i live in aren't always great for public transport once you get out of the centre.

Because too many driving instructors have told me I'll kill somebody.

Like a few PPs I have no spatial awareness and I can't process visual information.

I never ask others for lifts, I prefer to be independent.

"All this "well I live in London" - all well and good but what about exploring the world outside London? We've had amazing holidays in Scotland, Cornwall and the Lakes which would have been impossible without a car."

Have holidayed in all three. You take a train to the nearest location and then either local buses or walk. All three are accessible to anyone who can read a timetable and a map.

I mean how do you manage when you go on holiday? Don't you want to hire a car to get there/explore?

Taxis, public transport, organised trips. I see all the cultural stuff there is to see on holidays even without a car. I don't like lying on the beach.

What if you were offered a great job that wasn't accessible with public transport

I work from home. Definitely not looking for a job outside the home. I wouldn't be interested in a job that had such a long/awkward commute that I had to finance a car specially for it.

what if your child needs to do their hobby somewhere not on a PT route? For example my DDs do gymnastics and the comps are always on remote industrial estates and you have to be there at 8.30 on a sunday morning

No children.

It’s really fucking expensive

Have to laugh at the thought of not being able to explore the world if you don't have a car. If you travel by public transport and/or walk you get a proper feel for the places you're holidaying in, not just driving in your own wee cocoon.

Hilda, to me it seems limiting that both my dh and my ds struggle with respiratory problems that are almost certainly due to air pollution.

It seems limiting that I have to wait for 10 minutes to cross the road because of the constant stream of traffic.

It seems limiting that children can no longer be allowed to play outside because everywhere is full of cars.

And one day when non-renewable fuels give out it will seem limiting that they are no longer available for life-saving purposes due to all the people who couldn't be bothered to take an umbrella and wait at the bus stop.

Don’t need to,living and working in London

Cory, that ten minutes at the bus stop for the one bus that day that stops at every little village is all well and good when you're on holiday but when you live there full time and you've got job, family and committments i can assure you there is nothing easy about it.

Because I never learnt.

Because I have access to about 50 buses an hour all a short walk from my house.

if the weather is still nice tomorrow, then I'm planning on going to the beach. Hop in the car and it's about 1 1/2 hours away. How do people who don't drive do stuff like that?

As stated previously, I do drive, but today I went to the beach because it's bloody gorgeous here. It's also a ten minute walk Also a five minute walk to National Park.

Of course some people who live in the arse end of nowhere need to be able to drive if they want to leave AEON, but for many of us, it's very easy to not bother with driving.

The cost and traffic makes driving prohibitive in London for many

That's not what they're saying though Crunchy. It's "I live in London so I don't have to" not "driving in London is a nightmare/too expensive". I completely understand why you'd choose not to drive if you live in Central London. But once you're outside the M25, things are different.

As for the "oh it's so easy to do holidays in Scotland by train" - perhaps if you're going to Edinburgh or Glasgow. We've been to much further flung places like Islay, Orkney, Harris, Wester Ross. No stations. Bus once a day, if you're lucky (but not on a Sunday). Cars essential.

But I also agree that people who don't/won't drive are pre-filtering their choices probably without even thinking. They wouldn't consider a holiday in Shetland or Wester Ross because they can't get there by train/bus so don't even recognise that they're excluding themselves from doing those things, if you see what I mean.

I absolutely love driving - I don't mind commuting in my company car and I LOVE going out in my other car just for the enjoyment of proper driving in a classic. If I go on holiday I love to hire a car and go exploring. I like a track day too - get in a supercar - it's all good fun for a petrolhead like me.

I despise public transport. I'd take a traffic jam in my own car any day over being stuck on a train or bus where people are noisy, sweaty, smelly, you can't control anything, it's either too hot or freezing, it's way overpriced for what it is... it's my idea of hell, but that's just my preference. If other people prefer that though, then all power to them - not my place to judge - it's their choice and doesn't affect me. And for the record, I did extensive commuting on public transport for years - buses, trains, walking the lot - in London, in other parts of the UK and in another country - so I have a significant comparison. When I switched to commuting by car I swore I wouldn't go back - it's so much better - but that's just me.

That all said, people who don't want/like to drive tend not to make very good drivers because they don't care about driving and don't understand cars... so tbh I'd rather they stuck to public transport and left the roads for people who actually enjoy driving and enjoy cars. Everyone's happy then.

At some point, you almost certainly will need to manage without a car.

I worked for a psychiatrist who dealt with the elderly. One of the aspects of his role was to assess cognitive abilities and to contact the DVLA for those elderly who no longer had certain abilities.

It was a nightmare to get some of them to stop driving, even though they were endangering other road users. Some of the families had to get the car engines disabled and pretend there was something wrong with the car, so that the older person could not use the car while the DVLA was sorting it out. Sometimes, even after they were no longer allowed to drive, they still would.

All to save taking a bus!

I'm sure that's lovely if you have parents that can afford such a thing, many don't. I don't currently drive as I live in a city with good public transport. I hope to learn soon to make commute easier.

www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2011/02/03/182935.htm

Why the elderly are bad drivers

When elderly drivers get behind the wheel, they often confront the harrowing reality that they cannot easily see other cars, pedestrians, or cyclists moving around them. This frightening effect of aging, it turns out, is not necessarily a result of a reduced ability to perceive moving objects, as one might suspect, but a heightened awareness of the backdrop against which these objects move.

if the weather is still nice tomorrow, then I'm planning on going to the beach. Hop in the car and it's about 1 1/2 hours away. How do people who don't drive do stuff like that?

I live within walking distance of a beach.

If everyone who used public transport took to their cars, your traffic jams would be even worse

I can drive. I have a licence. I just don't need to living in London. If I have some pressing need to drive outside of the M25 then I'll hire a car if need be. I haven't ever had that in 15 years, as trains and cabs are much easier. I'm surrounded by car clubs - I pay £60 a year to keep up my zipcar membership just in case.

Though it's essentially an expensive insurance policy as I've not used it once!!

I don't really have any desire to go on a driving holiday round the Scottish Highlands, because I'm a town mouse rather than a country mouse, and I'd rather explore a city than anywhere rural. I can drive around the Lakes if I wanted to. But it really holds limited appeal - countryside is nice to visit for a day, but that's about it for me!

All well and good relying on Uber when you live in a city, half the UK doesn't have it. I can only use Uber if I'm in Leeds and I want to get home or somewhere from there - I couldn't get it from my village. Same with 'you see kids on the tube all the time' again, all well and good if you live in London - I'd also be doing the same.

We had next to nothing growing up but my mum made sure at 17 we all learned to drive, getting a car after was up to us.

People who don't drive are often heavily reliant on those of us who do - that's always been my experience so I don't think it's as simple as there being online delivery services, taxis and buses available (all of which I also use, just not everyday).