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

Snuggybuggy does he buy a sink every day?

Missed photo off- this is the reality for much of the UK.

Not a sink but we do seem to be buying a lot of heavy stuff these days.

Blablabla if there was a bus to the station would you use it?

If the private car wasn’t subsidised and that 20billion was spent on public transport then having more bus routes - would you use them?

Would you use and electric bike to get to the station?

Do you pay charges to store you car at the station?

Snuggybuggy this chap manages without using a car

If there was a bus that could get me there for the times I needed to catch a train, which is often before 7am, I would use it in most situations....not if I had a suitcase etc though.

No I would not use an electric bike ...I'm often using a train to attend an event or conference which involves professional dress and I'm usually carrying books or resources.

No I don't pay for parking at the Train station.

I pay for parking at work though ...I pay my employer for a private parking space. Even with that additional cost it's still cheaper than using public transport every day

But @KoolAidPickle I've moved from the sticks (car 100% necessary) to the same west London public transport bubble as the OP, and tons of people still drive when there is little need. This isn't about the frontline NHS workers or people with additional needs that pps keep mentioning - none of us ever said that everyone can accomplish EVERY journey by car, just that there's a lot of waste.

ivykaty44, I would love to see this chap climbing up a two-mile long hill up a country road with HGVs wizzing by, while also carrying a couple of kids that he cannot leave at home alone while he nips to IKEA that's 15 miles away.

Let's get real. If we all lived in the Netherlands where terrain is super-flat and covered in cycle lanes, we'd all be on these bikes. But we don't.

If they could drive they would.

I've already outed myself as a person who can drive but doesn't, and I know I'm not the only one. Not everybody miraculously becomes a good and confident driver just because they managed to scrape through their test. And not everybody who can drive can afford a car.

If people were banned from driving, even if it was just in the city, public transport services would have to double at least, and run 24/7 sometimes carrying only one or two passengers.

They'd be carrying a lot more than two passengers if people were banned from driving.

Aren't schools closed at the moment? no of course not. I think ours is closed on the August bank holiday, but otherwise open every day, why is that relevant?

Again, I don't think I've read everything, because there is a lot here, but thank you for everyone's contributions.

There are a lot of people on here saying why their car journey is necessary, but a lot of people with journeys that are not necessary too, who still feel they are entitled to drive - these are the journeys I think should be banned.

yes, we do need better public transport in some areas, but at the same time, it is not as bad as some people think, either.

There are only three places in the UK that I would be reluctant to return to because of poor transport links, Devon, Glasgow and Brighton. I forgot Brighton last time I was listing, but after several occasions of major failures of Brighton trains, we don't go there anymore.

Other places really are mostly fine even with all your camping stuff on your back.

Yorkshire is one of the best, Scottish highlands you can get more or less anywhere you want, the ferries/ coaches, etc are very reliable. Kent, good, I'm trying to think of any other area that particularly stands out as wither a good or a bad experience, but for the most part, if I want to go somewhere I just go, and the public transport itself leaves very little impression.

On the subject of disabled access, well, as a foster carer I have raised many children with all sorts of disabilities, entirely dependent on public transport. Being disabled doesn't preclude use of public transport at all. There may be some people who can't use it, but even where cars are banned, blue badge holders are not, and I would expect that will continue in the future too.

A lot of people are talking about electric cars, but until they can be fueled entirely on renewable energy they don't decrease pollution, they actually increase it.

And to those of you saying that there are other factors contributing to deaths from pollution, what off it? I am talking about one particular factor. Its a bit strange to say "its ok for my choices to kill people because I expect some of your choices do too"

There are only three places in the UK that I would be reluctant to return to because of poor transport links, Devon, Glasgow and Brighton

Then you can't have been to West Wales.

Yorkshire is one of the best

You know visiting the tourist spots isn’t like living here all the time?

Yorkshire is one of the best?!?!? Now I know you're full of it. 😂😂😂😂😂

I have 3 children, even if public transport was an option where I live (its not) I would never use it, I had to use it as a student and it thoroughly depressed me and I want my own space and not to have to worry about the behaviour of some of the less desirable folk around my boys

I agree. I’m 30 and only learnt to drive a couple of years ago after growing up down south with good transport. Sadly due to our location, children’s school and work, not driving wouldn’t be possible. It’s semi rural and the transport links are terrible.

You know visiting the tourist spots isn’t like living here all the time?

Yorkshire is one of the best?!?!? Now I know you're full of it.

born and brought up mostly in a rural yorkshire farming community, regular visitor to my home every few weeks until the last of my close family died about 4 years ago, still regularly visit friends and more distant cousins, I would consider it my second home. I've lived there more than half my life.

Also, if you think Glasgow is harder to get to than the Outer Hebridies, then you've confirmed that there's definitely something wrong with you.

I used to travel by public transport in Scottish Highlands when I was young and single (and even then, taxis were often needed to get to hostel from the nearest bus stop/train station). Now, the thought of rail fair from an English town to somewhere in the Highlands for a family of 4 gives me palpitations.

Omg op but a lot of people with journeys that are not necessary too, who still feel they are entitled to drive - these are the journeys I think should be banned

That is such a weird controlling opinion to have. Why? Do you think all of the things that cost the country unnecessary expense and inconvenience should be banned too? Alcohol? Smoking? Obesity? Holidays abroad? Strange...

Then you can't have been to West Wales.

actually Wales is a funny one, you can get to almost any part of West Wales from England, but bizarely, can often only get from one part of West Wales to another part of West Wales by returning to England and coming in again....

I agree, West Wales, below average!

Not to the extent of Brighton or Devon though

born and brought up mostly in a rural yorkshire farming community, regular visitor to my home every few weeks until the last of my close family died about 4 years ago, still regularly visit friends and more distant cousins, I would consider it my second home. I've lived there more than half my life

Cool story bro

If all of that is true then you must realise that the public transport system in Yorkshire is abysmal!

That is such a weird controlling opinion to have. Why? Do you think all of the things that cost the country unnecessary expense and inconvenience should be banned too? Alcohol? Smoking? Obesity?

alcohol, smoking and obesity may be expensive for the country, and kill the individual involved, but they do not poison the air, cause global warming, destroy the environment and gridlock the transport system to such an extent that people cannot move around, like private cars do

Tell me how to meet my daily commuting needs from Suffolk into Cambridge on a daily basis without it taking 2 hours each way... Going for a family visit does not compare to managing daily life. It really doesn't.

Why is your school open? Is it private, or a Free School? Ours is completely and utterly closed.