to feel car driving is frequently unjustified

[Clairetree1]

Having sat in a traffic jam yesterday, in which I counted 10 buses being held up by around 45 cars, many of which only had one person in.

So say 60 people in cars holding up 600 people in buses....

just as a snapshot, throughout the whole journey, each person in a car seems to hold up 10 people in a bus, and if the cars were not there, those car travelers could easily fit on the buses, and everyone would be moving at least 3x as fast,

and I can't really see how this is allowed, or can be justified.

If you are in a city, or in another area with an adequate bus route, and are physically able to use the bus, how do you justify to yourself the danger, inconvenience and lethal pollution you subject everyone else to? Not to mention the further damage to the environment caused by concreting over parking spaces, car manufacture, etc.

I know some people are going to say they need the time, but if cars were banned from our cities and more people on public transport, everyone would be moving faster.

I know some people are going to say they are disabled, or have too much to carry, but some people who are disabled or have a lot to carry do use buses, they often have no choice! it doesn't automatically preclude you.

I know some people are just going to say they have a right to, but really, do you? Pollution is killing thousands of people a year in the UK, not to mention those killed in car crashes, the environmental damage done including global warming, and the sheer inconvenience to everybody else.

I know a couple of cities are planning on banning private cars, and I know petrol cars are on their way out, so things might well improve, but I just don't understand how we reached this position in the first place, so much death and destruction and time taken away by an entitled privileged few with such a selfish habit I can't understand how they justify to themselves.

I don't expect many people to agree with me, I think this privilege is so deeply ingrained in our culture that people genuinely feel they have a right to drive cars, when perfectly adequate public transport exist.

I don't think there is any moral right at all though, I think it is morally wrong in every way

Literally wouldn't cross my mind when loading 4 kids into the car that maybe I should think of the environment and get a bus. I'll think of an easy life and my sanity first.

I have an autistic DS and am pregnant with twins. I get public transport.

Drive if you want but don’t make bullshit excuses lol.

of course only rich people own and use cars!

Absolute rubbish, what a stupid goady thing to say. What income makes you rich then?

@clairetree1 You do make very broad, generalised statements. Many people have told you that, for them, a car is essential. I wouldn't be able to do my job if I didn't have a car. The next nearest place where my particular job exists is at least 150 miles away. My car is essential to enable me to keep my job.

You need to realise that just because you can make something work for you doesn't mean it works for others.

Its certainly more convenient to use a car, and I say that as someone living in the 'burbs of a major city with a pretty decent bus service. I use the bus (and tram) whenever I can, because sometimes it's cheaper and more convenient than trying to park.

But the buses don't go everywhere I want to, and usually take at least twice as long as going by car (because of the circuitous routes they take). I would have to go to the supermarket three or four times a week if I had to carry it all home on the bus.

I already said that I am on minimum wage and can afford to run a car by reducing other outgoings. Maybe other people have different outgoings to me and can't. I only have one DS, don't have other caring responsibilities, have low/manageable debt, live in a council home in a low cost village, eat cheap veggie food, don't take holidays. If the car needs something big fixed, I pay with credit. Other people might have different circumstances - doesn't make me rich!

@LagunaBubbles Oddly enough, several of us have asked that question and been ignored. The OP seems to ignore any question that takes issue with her sweeping blanket statements that are palpably bollocks to anyone who can read.

Which, as I said earlier, is a shame because there IS a valid point at the heart of it.

Drive if you want but don’t make bullshit excuses lol

People dont need to make "excuses" for driving, bullshit in your opinion or otherwise. Cars do make transport easier and more convenient compared to public transport.

The point I was trying to make is that it's not like I can't just get a job that's easy to commute to. I need my car to get me to my job

We live rurally. We have virtually no public transport. I cycle short distances when I can, but for a lot of journeys there is no practical alternative to driving. For instance - the nearest big town, where I can have ds's feet measured, is 20-odd miles away. I can drive there in about 45 minutes. Or, I just looked up public transport - 3 hours and 47 minutes, taking two buses and two trains That just isn't a practical option!

@clairetree1 You do make very broad, generalised statements. Many people have told you that, for them, a car is essential. I wouldn't be able to do my job if I didn't have a car. The next nearest place where my particular job exists is at least 150 miles away. My car is essential to enable me to keep my job.

I have not made broad and generalised statements, at all, I have said right from my first post onward that some car use is inevitable, essential, or even if not essential, it is the best and most sensible option.

I have also said that much car use is totally unnecessary, and the result of privileged entitlement, and a selfish option taken by people who don't need to do it, to the huge detriment of everyone.

Some people can only do broad and generalised reading

People dont need to make "excuses" for driving, bullshit in your opinion or otherwise. Cars do make transport easier and more convenient compared to public transport.

Don’t say you have to drive because you have kids though. Plenty of is with kids use public transport.

Just admit it’s for convenience.

I could use public transport to get to work. I live in London and actually get heavily subsidised public transport.

My shifts start at 7, as it is, I get up at 5:30, shower prep lunch/eat breakfast get dressed and jump in the car by about 5:50, then am at work by around 6:15-6:20. Being that early I’m generally the first in, so I’ll be the first out when the late shift arrive.

If I had to get public transport I’d be up at 5, have to walk to the station by about 5:30 or so, train in the centre of London, and then back out to my work. I would arrive around 6:40 or so.

So instead of a 25 minute comfortable commute listening to my audiobook and extra sleep, I’d be uncomfortable crammed into first trains and hot (in winter cold) deep tubes during the early hours and be last in to work, so last out in the afternoon.

There is a perfectly serviceable public transport option. It’s just shit. That’s why I’d rather drive.

exactly @MrSpock**

Because I fucking hate buses.

I walk to work, and barely drive my car at the weekends either. If I want to cross town, I'd rather walk 30m to the train station than catch the bus directly outside my house (and given how slow the bus is, it actually takes the same amount of time).

I've got an appointment in town at 2pm today. I can make it in a round trip in 90m driving. It would be an hour and a half on the bus.

They're a fucking miserable way to travel, and I don't apply that to ANY other form of transport.

Well I hope you aren't an English teacher then because your posts are the very definition of broad and generalised. When asked for specific examples you refuse to provide them. Without evidence, they remain your opinions and sweeping generalisations.

well, I am a teacher, so 12hours minimum in school, more normally 13-14 hours

I also work in a school and none of our teachers spend that long in school. Our school isn’t even unlocked for that amount of time.... our teachers arrive between 8 and 8.30 and the caretaker locks up by 5.30.

Mind you all our teachers (and TAs) are clearly rich as they all have cars!

We drive everywhere. There is nothing nice within walking distance and it would take 5 to ten times as long with multiple changes to take public transport. Sue me. Oh wait, you can't, I'm not doing anything wrong.

I have not made broad and generalised statements,

Yes you have. Here's one:

But there are many rural, semirural or suburban places where the pubic transport is very good indeed, and far superior to London

Which is why lots of us have asked you over the last half an hour to name some, so it is no longer a broad, generalised statement. Yet for some reason, you still won't. Or can't.

OP

Can you give us a list of professions which are allowed to use cars. You’re very prescriptive.
I don’t know a single front line staff member in the NHS who could financially take the hit of 3x price on petrol.

There IS a problem with transport not being as good as it should be. I completely agree with that, it needs to be more regular and more reliable.

That said, there is no need for cars to be used as frequently as they are.

Also the assumption that everyone has a car is a bit annoying!

I have not made broad and generalised statements, at all

You've said there are rural areas with better public transport than London. And despite repeated requests to name any you have not.

Seems pretty broad and generalised (and inane and completely wrong as well) to me.

Well, I suppose I could do my commute by public transport, thereby adding 3 hours to my working day, not see my DCs as much and oh yes, have less money to spend on frivolous luxuries like food, heating, council tax...

Because like it or not, OP, that is exactly what it boils down to for very many people. (I do not include in this the kind of person who uses a car for a tiny school run or never walks to a shop). I am not on a massive wage, I am a single parent. You are very fortunate to have good public transport where you are. Accept that it is not like that for very many people in the UK.

And where are your examples of rural/semi-rural/suburban places in the UK with public transport superior to London's? We're waiting.

Which is why lots of us have asked you over the last half an hour to name some, so it is no longer a broad, generalised statement. Yet for some reason, you still won't. Or can't.
Name one