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.

Well good for you.

You think carers should use public transport to attend their clients?

Are you a carer? Is that what you do?

I’d actually find that a really concerning situation for your mum to live in @whycantwegoonasthree, she will reach an age probably within the next 10 years where she isn’t able to drive anymore so will she just be completely stranded?

Well I was good citizen and didn't buy any the last few days because I had half a tank. I'm now on empty and guess what? Every fuel station is shut in my area!

I feel for those with jobs who really, really need to drive.

But having been looked down on for years by smug and snotty drivers for not having a car (oh it must be AWFUL not having any freedom!), and smug and snotty rural folk for living in London (couldn't PAY them to live there!) I am enjoying some schadenfreude right now.

@TuftyMarmoset

I’d actually find that a really concerning situation for your mum to live in *@whycantwegoonasthree*, she will reach an age probably within the next 10 years where she isn’t able to drive anymore so will she just be completely stranded?

I am concerned - but there's no way she'll leave her home and garden or the rural village she and my dad lived in their entire life together until she absolutely has to. I'm fortunate that I'll likely be able to afford to get her care, taxis or whatever. And her tiny village is very close knit, so people help each other.

All of the above relies on fuel, though, obviously.

And public transport has been decimated. There used to be two buses out and in to the village when I was growing up. They're long gone.

But not everyone can or wants to live in towns and cities. And towns and cities wouldn't copy of they did.

@SpikeyFloof

Well I was good citizen and didn't buy any the last few days because I had half a tank. I'm now on empty and guess what? Every fuel station is shut in my area!

Yes I'm in the same position now SpikeyFloof I wasted my remaining petrol driving around fuel stations yesterday with no luck and can't risk it today as its beyond the red now. I think our big Tescos will have some in the morning so I think I'll have to walk up there with a petrol can. I'm quite worried about how to queue on foot though, behind cars in the road or what?

The fact people are in tears at fuel stations because they think there's no petrol is laughable I'm not finding it laughable. I'm not crying but I'm pretty anxious about it.

People adamant they can't go to work, so get a train.
My nearest station is 20mins drive away.

Ride a bicycle.
Don't have one.

Use the bus.
Services were ropey here prepandemic. They are very unreliable at the best of time - and don't run early enough to get to work before 9am. Last week the council announced they were cutting even more services due to a lack of drivers.

This is a real issue in many parts of the country and is one of the key things that the 'levelling up agenda' is about addressing because there is such a heavy reliance on cars.

Its very nice of you to ignore the problem so many in the NW, NE, Midlands and SE have been banging on about for well over a decade.

I don't actually need petrol right now and I can walk most places for what I need - apart from a supermarket shop (we have a local shop which is much more expensive than a general supermarket - I can shop there for essentials but it would cripple us to be paying those prices for everything, plus it has a very limited range). DH can cycle if he needs to.

But I still retain the ability to understand other people's circumstances and how those things just aren't an option for many.

@Pedalpushers

I feel for those with jobs who really, really need to drive.

But having been looked down on for years by smug and snotty drivers for not having a car (oh it must be AWFUL not having any freedom!), and smug and snotty rural folk for living in London (couldn't PAY them to live there!) I am enjoying some schadenfreude right now.

Well, just so long as you are enjoying that some rural people, like my dad who only has enough fuel to get to (not from) his cancer treatment, are suffering, because a couple of people looked down on you once.

@whycantwegoonasthree

My mum lives 15 miles away from the nearest train station, there are no buses any more, the nearest shop is eight miles away, her GP is six miles away, she's 74 and a widow.

But yeah, totally over-reacting to be worried at there being no fuel for her only means of transport. Hysterical bint.

Honestly, could you be further up your own arse @TikTokNutcases ?Why not just change your name to SmuggyMcSmugFace and have done.

Indeed, the OP is clearly tone deaf and out of touch with how others survive. Totally ignorant.

Don’t feed it people. OP is a wind up merchant and won’t be coming back here I wouldn’t have thought.

I imagine if you don't drive a car you are still reliant on many other people being able to get fuel - the bus driver for example might need to fill up their own car to get to the bus depot to drive the bus you need to use- are they being hysterical or selfish? Ditto the staff in schools, nurseries, shops, cafes etc.
OP thinks "so what?" If it takes an extra 2 hrs to get somewhere on public transport .....but

• not everyone has a spare 2 hours at each end of the day. If you normally drop children at nursery at 7.45 and go to work, who is going to look after them if you need to leave at 5.45am.... or get back at 8pm?

Most people using cars instead of public transport is because public transport doesn't work for them in terms of destination or starting point, or takes too long.

• Or would they be ok with the school/nursery/GP surgery being 2 hours late opening or 2 hrs early closing because all the staff had to get the first or last bus??

@Flowers500

If you’re ignorant as pig shit, don’t start a thread advertising it…

Quite. I think the OP was probably just on the wind-up but an alarming number of posters have jumped on to say how much they agree with her…

We live in a village, about 8 miles from the nearest town, with a bus service that comes twice a day.

We can't cycle because the roads are either either dangerously twisty (and used by heavy good vehicles) or major A roads.

We could walk, but the last time we tried that it took my son 2.6 hours to get to town.

But yes, we're wedded to our car because of some psychological dependency, not practicality... 🙄

I think it’s a mixture. Some people really do have no alternative, but there will always be those who say “I can’t go to work!” without genuinely looking at the other options - because they don’t want to go!

Our normally connected city is falling apart slowly. Buses have gone from every 10 minutes to every 30minutes. School buses are not all running.

I don’t personally drive my dh does. He can’t get to work without a car, there is no train or bus service there. It would be a long long walk down a major A road. But his only helping keeping hospitals/shops full of the things we need. I’m sure he wouldn’t actually mind a day off rather then the current 6-7 his doing.

A bit of news for Tory shills who dismiss most people's genuine dismay at the state of our country: it is NOT fine, it's NOT acceptable, it's NOT a jolly good character building experience. We can and should expect better. Whatever needs to be done to sort this mayhem, should be done pronto. I'm personally not interested in excuses. Of course we need petrol and food deliveries to supermarkets, to chemists etc. It's not bloody luxury!
To paraphrase our PM: prenez un grip.

@TikTokNutcases I know rural Lincolnshire quite well, so I’m aware that in many areas public buses are only available after 9am due to being used as school buses. I’m also aware that many of the smaller train stations do not have early or late trains to allow people to commute. Ancaster for example often has one train per day between Skegness and Nottingham, the buses also don’t leave Ancaster until around 10am (earlier in the school holidays) so you can’t get to the nearest town until 10:30, you then have to leave that town at 5pm to get home. Not many people work 10:45-4:45.

Yabvu. I live rurally in north west Scotland. Drive 40 mins to work. Arse end of no where to you I am sure.

My village has a bus stop but no buses on a schedule that would get me to work for 8.30 or home before really late. Don’t fancy cycling 27 miles on A and B roads with no cycle track with a toddler in tow 😂

Luckily, there is no petrol shortage here, or in the civilised towns nearby or central Scotland - as of yesterday 👍

Looks out of the window

Where's this "bus" everyone's going on about? Oh that's right, one went by at 8am this morning and the next one isn't until 12pm. So convenient.

I do find it astonishing that the vast majority of people can't understand that owning a car isn't a possibility for a lot of people. Car ownership is expensive as is learning to drive. I've seen people state that its a luxury to live in a city where you have access to public transport.

Its not.

A lot of people simply can't own a car because they aren't financially able to, and this is continually overlooked. In the same way that home ownership isn't possible for a lot of people.

Abusing those who don't own a car isn't the nicest of things when those people are hardly in a great place (financially).

@TikTokNutcases

I do think some people rely on their car far too much

That's the problem isn't it, so when people can't use one it's like the world has ended.

My nearest bus stop is a 15 minute walk away, buses are every 2 hours . I'm disabled and can only manage the walk from the front door to the driveway. The nearest train station is 10 miles away. Starting on Thursday I have to go to hospital for treatment every day for 3 weeks. The hospital is a 45 minute drive away. To get there without my car would be impossible. I cannot manage public transport. I'm just holding on the phone now trying to arrange patient transport. It isn't looking hopeful though and looking like my cancer treatment will have to be cancelled.

@TuftyMarmoset

I agree with you OP in that I can’t believe how some people have allowed themselves to be so completely dependent on a car for any semblance of a life. What would they do if their car needed to be in the garage for a week or more? Or they had their licence taken away?

Mine is a Motability car. If it needed to go to the garage for a service or repair it is picked up and another suitable Motability car left for me. If it needs tyres changing, they come to the house and change them. If I lost my license my carer would drive me anywhere I want to go in my car.

@BananaPB

What do you think buses run on? www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/national/gas-buses

Breaking news OP - some people’s circumstances are different from your own.