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.

The kids are not an excuse. They would be fitter and healthier not chauffeured ever where.

I was referring to the poster who lives in Chelsea

@Vulpine I realised after I posted. My kids school is minutes away as is my work so definitely no need to drive there

So do central London a favour and find alternative forms of travelling around the incredibly polluted and congested city

I have never experienced anything more stressful than driving in London, I cannot fathom why anyone would choose to do it, especially in Zone 1!

As I said I’ve done that all my life, it was shit and restrictive. I wish to be able to leave this place when I choose. London is more congested by the people who do not actually live here commuting in for work than the residents who likento go about their lives at weekends. It’s nice and quiet here on weekends.

@autumndreaming the traffic lights and buses are annoying but I find driving on country roads quite stressful. All the bends and speed on narrow roads
I don’t drove in the square mile, places like bank, Aldgate, Barbican are a complete nightmare and if I ever have to go through them I get completely lost and confused by all the one way systems and no entry’s. I tend to go away from busy areas for shopping or errands Or out of London for days out and leisure.

I agreee with you there. It is much quieter on the weekend and less cars when all the commuters aren’t around. But I do live in the square mile so perhaps that’s why I think having a car is unnecessary. Whenever I go out of London I can walk to any of the mainline stations and take a direct train to prettt much anywhere.

It's just a rather entitled attitude. You are privileged enough to live in the centre of one of the most prosperous cities in the world and insist on owning and driving your own car to 'run a few errands'. One day private ownership of cars in city centres will be a thing of the past. You are part of the problem not just the commuters during the week.

Vulpine, we are not driving to Oxford Circus, we are driving in our neighbourhoods that are actually quieter than streets in Croydon/Greenwich/Brixton etc. Why it bothers you so much? And why are you constantly talking about “privilege”? Many central London dwellers are not rich or privileged at all.

I would suggest there is a certain amount of privilege that comes from living in central London what ever ones income or level of housing. It bothers me because of the pollution levels in london and the congestion - if you drive in central London you are part of the problem

But what about Brixton and Greenwich? Or Wembley? Should people stop driving in those areas too? You still have not explained how driving through quiet streets of Chelsea is worse than being stuck in traffic in other areas.

Vulpine there are parts of London where people live in conditions that are among the most deprived in the EU. With incomes that prevent them from taking advantage of pretty much everything London has to offer. I wouldn't get too carried away about all Londoners being 'privileged' without doing a bit more research.

And I can vouch for the streets of the inner suburbs being generally quieter to drive on than a lot of the outer suburbs, as the public transport in the inner areas is better, and the amenities are less spread out.

Cycling can be incredibly dangerous in London, 95% of roads are just not set up for it. There have been many fatalities and seriousl injuries, especially at big roundabouts and where lorries are turning at junctions.

I agree that we need to take climate change more seriously, and I personally make a lot of effort to avoid using the car. I walk miles each week, and if I can, I take the tube or bus. I use my car less than once a week. But cycling would be an absolute no from me. Maybe if I lived elsewhere. But i have a small child I need to be around for, and would never put myself at such risk.

I have no idea why there have not been more incentives to encourage a switch to more electric vehicles, or indeed to make public transport cheaper and more reliable. Our governments have been guilty of avoiding difficult issues and/or in thrall to the oil industry.

We need to make the effort individually, nonetheless of course, but this has to be within the context of individual lives and circumstances. Everyone's lives have become so busy, with long working hours and the need to have both parents working to run even a modest household.

@Vulpine your argument just makes no sense to me. Why only central London? So the rest of the world can drive cars but people in London can’t? Can you really not understand why someone in London might need or want a car as much as somebody in Bromley or Liverpool even? You know not every pocket of London is exactly the same. I don’t spend my time skipping around tourist attractions and hopping on and off buses. I have a life, a job, a family and things to do the same as people outside of London and believe it or not much of that life exists outside of zone 1.
Have you ever used buses and tubes during the week on a regular basis with small children?? Would you want to do it just to do shopping, visit friends, go to clubs ect. As I said, I spent years being restricted to where I could go and being trapped in the centre of London with the commuters and tourists. Now I can enjoy leisure time and run errands away from all of that. As others have said, the bigger problem is the commuters. You only have to visit my area on a weekend to see that. Me using my car on my day off does not compare to the thousands of people that clog up and pollute the place wjere I live Monday to Friday.

The very poorest people who live in central london cannot afford to own or run a car, let alone music lessons for their kids. And yes I lived in central London for years and raised a family there without a car very successfully. I know what im talking about. If you feel 'trapped' living in the centre of one of the most prosperous cities in the world is there no way you could move out?

Vulpine you’re showing yourself to be very blinkered about London life. No one is saying pink and her music lessons are an example of the poorest of London.

But running a car certainly isn’t out of reach of people- why on earth do you think it’s so expensive? If poor people in Nottingham can run a car why can’t poor people in London? Completely depends on their needs and priorities.

Well, it’s up to you. But when I lived very centrally, I had a car but hardly ever used it. It only really came into its own when I had DD and needed to visit my parents, who lived nearby but a pain in the bum on public transport.
Unless you have a resident’s permit for parking anywhere you’re likely to drive to, it’s just not worth the hassle, IMO.

I wasnt saying pink was an example of poverty. I also know that people on low incomes can afford to run cars, that's not the point I'm making. People on truly low incomes in central London in general will not own a car. I lived in a very mixed area and saw this first hand. 'Blinkered' is not looking at the bigger picture and seeing that private car ownership in central London is self serving and unnecessary.

by Your measure, it’s self serving and unnecessary in many places, which is the point OP was trying to make- why do people find car ownership in London so hard to understand vs in Bromley, or Liverpool?

Many things we do are 'self-serving', vulpine. Life is hard, there is little safety net, and people/families are often tacking multiple issues, like MH issues, disability, low income etc.

If someone chooses to make their life a little easier by having a car, then I don't think it's for us to judge, unless they are using it frivolously. I try to minimise my own car use, but there are times I think it's justified.

And I agree with others that it is no worse to have a car in London than anywhere else.

I also think it is commendable that the poster (was it pink?) who is running her children to music lessons is doing so. Music lessons are life-enhancing for her children. She is being a good parent by providing them. I live in a neighbouring area to her, and can well believe she needs to travel to see tutors. Everyone I know locally who uses music tutors has to take their children to the tutor, not the other way around (though other tutors, e.g. for maths, do travel to the home of the client quite often).

A trip from Chelsea to Balham would be an absolute ball-ache on public transport, just because of the pattern of the road network and bridges, and the way the bus routes have been set up. Via tube would involve a long trip going around the houses, as the tube lines are largely set up to radiate out from the centre, and do not very well support journeys across the suburbs from east to west or vice versa. That journey would be unviable on a weekly basis.

As long as people are using public transport where they can, I don't see the issue with using a car where justified. It is up to the government to legislate and incentivise greener travel, and provide more of it at lower cost. It has failed to do so. Individuals therefore cannot be blamed for finding a reasonable solution to that problem.