Driving in London

[Imustbemad00]

Why do people that live outside of London seem to think iabu for having a car in London? There seems to be a perception you shouldn’t need a car if you live in London.

I live in zone 1. I haven’t always had a car, but I have one now and wouldn’t want to be without it. Not everywhere is accessible by tube, buses take forever. Even though tubes are quick you have to factor in extra time walking to and from stations. Doing this daily with children just to go anywhere or get shopping is horrendous. It’s also extremely busy.

I don’t need to drive to get to work, but I need the car for other aspects of my life. Okay, maybe I don’t NEED it but life has been a lot less stressful since I’ve had it. Also, we do like to leave London and visit other places often.

Buses don’t just go whereevef you want them to. They’re not taxis

It will take over an hour each way. I looked on the map, it’s 3 busses each way. Nobody in their right mind would do it. And this is the closest teacher, others live further away (Kingston, Dulwich and Greenwich). And if I already own a car and it’s parked outside my house, I might as well drive kids to school when it rains. We walk when the weather is sunny.

Passthecherrycoke, exactly! And Uber would cost a fortune, I don’t think we could afford it.

If everyone in London decided to have a car, traffic would be an absolute standstill. Less than half of households in London own a car, and of those the majority do not drive in central London. So your choice to use a car regularly is only possible as most people in London don't use a car regularly.

@pinkcloud3 you live in Chelsea, run a car, pay for 7 different music lessons a week and couldn't afford Uber? Now I've heard it all. You are choosing a luxury lifestyle - my husband is a musician and loads of his students (mostly postgrads at the RAM) teach kids and they go all over London to the families. You would be able to find good people closer to home or who would come to where you live.

Oh please. You don’t know anything about her life. None of the things you mention
Need to be expensive luxuries, and running a car is undoubtedly cheaper than ubering everywhere

Professional high quality teachers don’t visit. It’s a fact. 30-50 a day on Uber will add up to 1300-1500 a month. We really can’t spend that much on travel.

I have found Uber very expensive and there was an incident when I used them and they emailed to request what i should tip their driver which I thought was very cheeky of them
I don't think hiring a car helps the environment or those car club schemes .

2 kids in zone 2 here and never had any desire or need for a car. We manage the usual round of swimming lessons, clubs etc very easily on public transport even with one still in a pushchair.

Not needing a car is one of the big reasons keeping us in London, a life dependent on driving everywhere sounds nightmarish to me. I hope it becomes more and more unacceptable for able bodied people to run private cars in cities and more space and funding is given over to cycle lanes, car shares and public transport.

It's not actually a fact. I am from a family of professional classical musicians, am married to another one who travels all over the world to play and know loads of top level teachers who travel to teach. And if you are talking about primary-aged kids (which I assume you are from the wet feet comment) then there are a ton of decent teachers in your area of London who can service kids' needs in both performance and musical theory and channel them into things like the junior college if they show promise, without any need to trek out to Kingston and Wimbledon.

Although I suspect you are going to come back and tell me that your kids are special geniuses who need special provision.

Why are you so determined pink can’t drive her children to music lessons? How is it at different from kids in edgeware being driven to music lessons?

You don’t know anything about my kids or their level, so you can’t really comment. Believe me it’s not easy commuting that far for lessons, and it’s not easy to find good teachers, they are usually fully booked and have studios at their homes because they can’t waste time on travel. But anyway, I don’t want to derail this thread ...

Yes I have loads of Tesco/Sainsbury’s locals and metros but not the same as going to a big shop. It’s not just about shopping anyway. It’s about having the freedom to go places and do things when I would like, or maybe do several things all in one day which isn’t possible on buses beciase of how long it takes.
As I’ve said before I can’t afford to hire a car several times a week.

My only point is that everyone is listing things that are "nice to have" and not things they "need" to do. Given the huge health and environmental downsides of driving in central London I'm simply arguing that, on balance, it is unreasonable to keep a car in order to facilitate those "nice-to-haves".

And no @PinkCloud I wasn't saying that I knew anything about your children. But I do know about classical music teaching, including for gifted children, and would say that even if you have given birth to the second coming of Jacqueline du Pre, I can guarantee that adequate private musical teaching (backed up by the junior college if required) is available in West London. Outside of Manhattan it is about the most classical-musician-dense area of the planet.

I don’t understand why it’s only people in London who shouldn’t drive. What about other cities?
I haven’t said I NEED it. Not like someone living in the countryside. But I’ve not driven for 12!years of adult life, so I fully understand it’s perfectly possible for me to survive and get things done without a car. But, now I’ve experienced life with a car, I wouldn’t go back. It’s not a marginal convenience, it’s improved our quality of life in lots of ways. We visit more places, more people, do more. I get my chores done quicker and have more time to spend with the children and everything is less stressful. I’m able to do lots more than friends without cars.
How would getting an Uber be better for the environment

And this is why environmental campaigns fail. Ultimately people like ease and comfort.
People who don’t have a car know it’s possible to get around but those with cars know it saves time and money. People like easy.

I’m in zone 2 and have a car. I travel back and forth home a lot which is around 100 miles so really do need the car as the train with a baby is not very much fun.

I don’t tend to use it other than trips back home as I use the tube and overground a fair but if you find it makes your life easier I don’t think yabu.

I'm not saying you should get Ubers regularly (I don't). I just offered it as a solution for those people who thought a car was essential for "emergency big shops". Getting an Uber once a month is more environmentally friendly than owning a car. Public transport or walking are the environmentally friendly solutions.

I'm not sure what you want OP? You have a car and nobody is disputing your right to drive it. I'm just not going to reassure you that it's an ethical choice to make.

Living in zone 1, what would improve your life and life for those around you is swapping your car for a bike.

Jesus no, I don’t fancy being crushed to death by a lorry thanks

@grimupnorthLondon I wasn’t asking for reassurance, I never mentioned ethical reasons in my op. Environmental reasons were not what I was referring to at all.

So you'll just make the streets more congested and dangerous for others by insisting on driving your kids to school when it rains

@Vulpine Firstly,I would likely die if I rode a bike on the roads round here. Secondly, what about my kids...? The kids are the main reason for needing a car.

No, just 100% self interest. Fuck everyone else. Nice.

I do not drive my kids to school. Ever. Or to work.