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

I agree with your post @plumpi79

An obvious solution to school run traffic would be more children getting their catchment school.

And more schools in general!

And more schools in general!

I don’t think all areas need that necessarily just a better allocation process. We’ve got an obvious split of over-subscribed and under-subscribed.

If your child goes to your local school you’re already reducing traffic.

I have just caught up with this thread and I’m pissing myself at the Op’s fictional working hours and MrSpock having the brass neck to admit to fate dodging

But at least they don’t drive short distances!

having read all this, here are my thoughts.
electric cars ,not the answer as they are more damaging than fossil fuelled cars ,
1 making the electricity.'
2 the batteries. they are horrible for the envioronment due to the mining for the metals needed in them.
autonomous vehicles arent the answer either , according to an interview today from the chairman of jaguar our roads arent suitable.
public transport should be renationalised. example . i live in a large market town with a bus route outside my house ,it will no longer run from the end of the month it cuts off all of the south of the town from the centre ,traffic around here will increase around 30% due to it being the only route for a primary school, one of the towns 2 secondary schools and the only sixth form .the reason, its not making a profit! dreading when they all go back to school!
our train station is in the middle of town ut only runs to the next towns mainline ,where you have to change to go anywhere else,
currently on jsa you have to agree to look for work in a radius of one hour or 30 miles or your sanctioned, cant do that here without a car.,

pointything

But they did build cycle lanes back in the 1950s but the house didn’t have cars then and as they did buy cars they just started storing thier cars in the cycle lanes and they got lost. Carlton read is doing something about them.

But it’s very slow progress in London with the infrastructure but it is happening and the counters are showing that 25% of the traffic is bikes and much quicker than motor vehicles. Children can use them safely and families use them to get about.

It all is way behind other Northern European countries though. Denmark has calculated for every €1 they spend on cycle infrastructure they save €5 on health care

I like your post @feedthemachine

@Bahhhhhumbug
No not at all. Sorry for your ds. That sounds tough. Yes, I just get on with it until I can’t. Love how thus far - I only read up to your message op is ignoring disabled people who’ve responded. Must be good to be so perfect.

Have a , OP.

Try not to get any crumbs on the passenger next to you.

They train selfishness and greed instead of compassion and caring

So paying for the trains you use and not breaking the law is selfishness and greed, and lying, stealing, giving stolen money to charity and being a pompous ass is compassion and caring in your world?

You're an asshat.

So, OP we can assume that you are able to drive a car and can comfortably afford to buy and run a car however you choose not to?

My area keeps building houses further and further away from the centre but adding no extra schools or shops near them.

I also think class sizes are too large these days!

People should endeavour to work locally and carshare

Definitely living in cloud cuckoo land.

I live in a small village in Devon. I work across the entire SW. my working style is not in the minority. I know lots of people who work from home, or are office based, yet cover a large area within their role.

IvyKaty when I lived in Holland, I once raced my dad across town - him in his car, me on my bike. We did it twice, once during rush hour, once outside. I beat him both times because I was allowed (legally) to go down one way streets the 'wrong' way (there was a cycle lane both ways). So I get your argument. But the current state of affairs is down to choices made by UK governments of all shapes and political persuasions. This kind of sea change can only happen with government fully behind it.

Little local protests and people inconveniencing themselves, damaging the economies of their households - none of that is going to change a damn thing.

I'd love to be able to cycle to work, but can't afford housing in the city where I work. I'd love to be able to cycle round my town, but it's too damned dangerous.

So paying for the trains you use and not breaking the law is selfishness and greed, and lying, stealing, giving stolen money to charity and being a pompous ass is compassion and caring in your world?

If the law is unfair, then yes, sticking to it is morally unjust.

“We were just following orders” isn’t a good excuse.

unfortunately the majority of british roads are too dangerous to cycle on and a lot of areas have no room for cycle lanes/roads.
having been unable to drive for medical reasons for six months until recently , ive just bought a cheap car as its actually reduced my out goings by at least £20 a week!

I live in a small village in Devon. I work across the entire SW. my working style is not in the minority. I know lots of people who work from home, or are office based, yet cover a large area within their role.

Obviously not doable if you live in a village, sadly.

The amount of people you can feed is so much greater if you give them the plants you would have fed to the bloody animals.

Little local protests and people inconveniencing themselves, damaging the economies of their households - none of that is going to change a damn thing.

Surely depends on how many people do it.

The amount of people you can feed is so much greater if you give them the plants you would have fed to the bloody animals.

People can’t suatain themselves on the food that would sustain livestock. Not for any long period of time...

Pointy

We did this type of race at work. They paired people up who lived close and from different places and distances.

So we all set of to work in our pairs, one on a bike and one in a car. Out of 10 pairs, none of the cars won. Now you would think that just one of the cars would win...

I had a uni professor who biked everywhere and swore by it. She didn’t have a car. She was a bit hippy even by my standards lol but she used to cycle all weathers, all journeys and I really admired that.

I wish UK roads were safer for cyclists.

Feedthemschine1 it’s not roads that are dangerous, it’s always the roads that get blamed though

They build housing estates further and further away from shops and schools. They seem to manage to put roads in for cars but never segregated cycle lanes for bikes

If you keep widening roads you’ll get more cars driven, if you build for other transportation that’s what you’ll get

Why sadly, MrSpock? I love my working style, as do other people who work the same way. My area is so huge (the entire SW) that there is no one place where I could live in order to cover it completely. So I live in my village, a few miles from our head office and I drive, a lot.

My partner is a vet. His practice is in a nearby town, but 25 miles from where my company's Head office is. He also has to travel a lot to visit sick animals on farms across the county.