To say people are totally over reacting about the fuel issue

[TikTokNutcases]

People adamant they can't go to work, so get a train.

Ride a bicycle.

Use the bus.

Talk of closing schools for god sake, whatever next.

It's ridiculous that people rely so heavily on the use of their car that life appears to stop still when they can't drive it.

You don't see this type of hysteria among non drivers, ever.

I don't drive and never have. I've never flapped like this about not being able to go to the supermarket, work etc.

[ElectricDeChocobo]

@Xenia

The very few people on the thread who think we can just take public transport have no idea about people's lives, how fat they have to go for work, how bad public transport is in so many bits of the UK (usually because they are rich and live in cities near work)

Can't you buy him one? You frequently brag about how loaded you are.

[poohaloo]

Yes you city buggers with your buses and tubes 😂
I live in a town... surrounded by fields
No buses
Petrol station closed for 4 days

Schools walkable 😀

Supermarket 2 miles away

Delivery nope
Deliveroo nope

[FrenchBoule]

OP,I reckon you must have lived in the city all your life 😂😂😂

[Kitkat151]

@TikTokNutcases

I bet you wait at home with glee whist some mug delivers your Amazon parcels in a car. People like you make me incredibly angry. You sound like a smug twat

I don't shop on Amazon

I bet you do😁

[tabulahrasa]

@TuftyMarmoset

Just pointing out that many (probably most) people who live rurally do not have access to that as an option.

Then I suspect you’re thinking less rural than where I grew up tbh.

Having an income low enough to be topped up by benefits but being surrounded by land that counter as private in driving terms was very common.

[WormYourHonour]

@FanGirlX

A lot of people will learn to drive on very quiet rural roads as well. Public ones but ones that are rarely used. They'll be driving slowly due to the nature of the roads but getting used to driving.

Most people it'll be industrial estates and car parks. I learnt to drive in Coventry, a fairly.big city, very few rural roads.

[FanGirlX]

A lot of people will learn to drive on very quiet rural roads as well. Public ones but ones that are rarely used. They'll be driving slowly due to the nature of the roads but getting used to driving.

[TuftyMarmoset]

Just pointing out that many (probably most) people who live rurally do not have access to that as an option.

[tabulahrasa]

@TuftyMarmoset

As if learning to drive on private land isn't a distorted perspective! DP grew up rurally but had to cycle everywhere because driving was expensive and his family don't have land to drive around on.

Um... I think you’ll find most farm labourers and other people with jobs like that live on private land, not necessarily their own, but it’s private.

[CMZ2018]

Dimwit

[TuftyMarmoset]

As if learning to drive on private land isn't a distorted perspective! DP grew up rurally but had to cycle everywhere because driving was expensive and his family don't have land to drive around on.

[FanGirlX]

Loads of people I knew when I lived rurally only had about 2 actual lessons, they all just drove on private roads and farms from about 13...

Yep, my dad had us driving from about 15. So we knew how to drive from younger than 17 but we didn't know how to navigate public roads until we had lessons at 17. Which meant we needed very few lessons to pass our tests. Some people on here are looking at this purely from their own large town / city perspective.

[ivykaty44]

The Army now getting involved with petrol distribution

strange when the government keep stating their isn't a problem with distribution and no fuel shortage

[tabulahrasa]

“What if your parents can't afford lessons for themselves, let alone their children.”

Loads of people I knew when I lived rurally only had about 2 actual lessons, they all just drove on private roads and farms from about 13...

[Parker231]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58729653.amp

The Army now getting involved with petrol distribution.

[icedcoffees]

I don't drive and have no desire to, but I bought my house knowing that, so I made sure that I was walking distance to the station and in an area with good local amenities etc. It's not the same if you're used to depending on a car.

Areas change, though. Our town, for example, used to have a leisure centre, a swimming pool, several banks - it now has none of those things. The nearest bank (depending your branch) is a 40 minute drive away. The nearest swimming pool is a similar distance. Those are all recent closures too - in the past 3-5 years or so.

So buying somewhere where you have good access to amenities is no guarantee of anything, really. Our town also used to have a good bus service and a good train service - there are no public buses now (they terminate 7 miles away) and the trains don't run on Sundays, Bank Holidays, early in the morning OR late at night.

They used to a few years ago, though.

[Sockwomble]

"It's easy to forget car ownership is a luxury"

Being able to use public transport is a privilege. Some people cannot, wherever they may live.

[FanGirlX]

Years ago, before cars were common, people coped just fine, but I guess that things were more local and less centralised in those days.

Yes, I agree. People tended to work more locally but look at how much of the high street has closed, banks, post offices etc. These tend to be in the local big town now, so people have to travel to work in them and use them. A lot of local branch offices have closed and are centralised too, so again people have to travel further for work and Public transport in rural areas has got worse, not better during this time. Remember the Beeching cuts to rural rail services?

[MidnightMeltdown]

Years ago, before cars were common, people coped just fine, but I guess that things were more local and less centralised in those days. The problem is that so many people are now reliant on cars.

I don't drive and have no desire to, but I bought my house knowing that, so I made sure that I was walking distance to the station and in an area with good local amenities etc. It's not the same if you're used to depending on a car.

Having said this, I do have friends who will drive places that they could walk in 10 or 15 mins, and then they complain that they can't lose weight and spend ££££ on gym memberships. This baffles me

[FanGirlX]

What if your parents can't afford lessons for themselves, let alone their children.

Another family member. My cousin gave me some driving lessons too. If you've never rurally then you don't understand the focus on learning to drive as soon as you are 17 because public transport just isn't an option in many rural areas. It really isn't a luxury, it's an essential.

[icedcoffees]

I mean, we can go on about "what ifs" until we're blue in the face. There are always going to be exceptions and there are always going to be people who will never learn to drive.

So, yes, owning a car is always going to be out of reach of some people, but the same goes for millions of other things - home ownership is a big one. Mortgages are always cheaper than rent, but many people will never be able to save up for a deposit while paying rent.

But none of that changes the fact that driving, for many, is essential and far more convenient than any other method of transport. It's perfectly okay for people who (for whatever reason) rely on their cars for work, the school run or buying food, to be worried/panicked when they can't fill up and get fuel.

[Stellaris22]

What if your parents can't afford lessons for themselves, let alone their children. Plus the time for lessons when you're already working long hours on minimum wage.

You might view driving as 'the done thing' everyone can do, and quoting public transport as expensive. But a lot of people are barely making ends meet (UC cuts, energy bills) so adding lessons and car ownership is an expense they just can't afford.

[TuftyMarmoset]

Insuring a learner on a car is also extremely expensive! When I was at school not a million years ago we were only allowed to work 8 hours a week, so you'd be working just to pay for those two lessons and not any keep, transport to school, or other teen stuff.

[icedcoffees]

@TuftyMarmoset

All you need for public transport is the money for that journey. For a car you need to save hundreds or thousands up front. It's much more difficult to do that if you are scrabbling for money each week. Lessons are so expensive, you have to work 4+ hours as a teenager just to afford one hour lesson. It's just not an option for everyone.

Which is why your parents' teach you, and you pay for your lessons while living at home, rent-free with your parents. Working four hours for one hour of lessons isn't a big deal imo, you only need one or two lessons a week.

So that's working two 4x hour shifts a week to cover your lessons - it's hardly being sent down the mines!

Cars also don't need to cost thousands - you can use credit cards to pay and most garages offer payment plans, even on cars that only cost 1.5k.

Of course there are always going to be people who really can't afford a car, but that's the case for everything in life. It doesn't mean people who do rely on their cars for work/school are over-reacting about not being able to get diesel.

[icedcoffees]

@FanGirlX

That's why rural parents focus so much on getting their children behind the wheel before they leave home. Most kids here have lessons as soon as they turn 17 and are on the road six months later - because their lives will be impossibly difficult if they don't learn or put it off until adulthood.

Most people get free lessons from parents first and then go to a driving instructor to learn how to pass their test. At least that's how things worked when I was learning.

Yes, it was the same for me and I wasn't even particularly rural, but public transport where we lived was expensive and inconvenient.

My mum and dad taught me, and then after I booked my test, I had more intensive professional lessons to help me along. I passed first time so it obviously wasn't an awful technique to use!