To despair at our obession with cars

[SelkieQualia]

They are awful. Noisy. Polluting. 4 million people die every year from the effects of air pollution. Housing developments are built around them, which means that the most vulnerable people in our society - young people, the elderly - are made even more dependant on those who drive.
Why do we tolerate such terrible public transport and cycling infrastructure?

What I object to most is people not walking short distances who can, and large SUVs. The latter I would reduce by requiring a separate driving test, as many would opt for a smaller car instead

I have a “large SUV” as we are a family of 6. If I had to take another test I’d just take it. It’s like saying you would never tow because you have to take a test, or drive a larger van even if you needed one. People would just take the pointless test. That said about 90% of my driving is my work commute and I’m alone. I looked into getting a commute car (something like a 10yo Aygo or 106) because of comments made about single occupancy huge cars I had been under the erroneous impression that I could run a small car very cheaply and the fuel saving would be worth it. What a load of bollocks, I’d save a few pounds a month in fuel but it would cost me ££££ in buying and insuring the car.
I would use public transport for work but despite working a mere 12 miles away in my local hospital where 6000 people work and 1000s attend every day I would arrive and hour late, not be able to get home at all and it would cost around £70 a week more than driving. I’d need either 3 buses or 2 buses and a train but because they are all different companies I wouldn’t be able to use and deals on tickets (like oyster where it’s capped) so it’s insanely expensive,

But that's the point, public transport is no good for many

And I'm sure the suv ain't that cheap to run

Public transport in large cities is a vastly different kettle of fish, even in other smaller urban areas like large towns/small cities. I live in a populous suburb near a small city. To travel to the nearest large cities, approx 30 miles away, would take me twice as long and cost me twice as much, by public transport. I imagine the situation is far worse in rural area. There's just no comparison if you can actually drive and have a car.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

Cars ruin everything, don't they? In London, yes. Everywhere else in the UK, no.

I took the train to a small Oxfordshire town and caught a bus from there to my destination. Delightful Cotswold town with an hourly train between London and Worcester. Cars everywhere, completely spoiled it. Mind you, it was a pretty poor bus service.

Bristol is absolutely clogged by cars too though, and doesn't have the excuse of being in a rural area for poor public transport. I can just imagine how much more pleasant it would be otherwise.

@popwithit

I love my car. I haven't used public transport in years. I live in London. Wouldn't have it any other way. The freedom is incredible. It's electric. Love it !l I would be too tired to wait around for public transport and walk everywhere. I go to the gym for exercise. I drive there ! Shock horror ! Love it !

So pay to own/lease, charge and maintain a car. You then drive it to the gym and pay to do some exercise. When you could have just walked to the shops.

I thought that it was only Americans who did that sort of thing. Don't tell me that there is an escalator between the car park and the gym, just to save you the walk

Smellywelly, but you have to buy the car first, no?

ive been out this morning and on the way home came across roughly a mile and a half of drivers queuing in amongst them was my neighbour in his car, they queue in the weekday morning but its worse on a Saturday lunch time, I went across the park and out to another road and again that road is congested with drivers going at approx 3mph

I get home and about 20 minutes later my neighbour pulls up and literally moans about the amount of drivers on the road - so why doesn't he see his obsession with driving is no different from others and he is the traffic that is holding up other drivers?

if all the drivers that are able were using other forms of decent transport then you'd have one bus instead of 50 cars and it'd be quicker with 10 buses. whizzy round to where everyone wants to go

If you want to sit in queues of other cars, then fine but it will appear to the 30% that your completely crackers & obsessed with cars, unless of course your literally not able to

We're almost at the stage of our lives where we could manage without a car. It wouldn't be easy but we'd manage.

We don't have any bus routes near us but can walk 10 minutes one direction to a bus and 30 minutes another direction to a choice of buses. We're 7 minutes walk away from a train into city. Which is then only 7 minutes away! On days when I timed it right and the platform was right I could go door to door to work in 15 minutes. Don't work there now.

We walk and cycle as often as we can. I wish electric scooters (the stand on ones) would become legal. That would make such a difference.

Our town is trying to become a twenty minute town (everything in reach on foot/cycle within 20 minutes).

I wish we had better buses too.

Less reliance on cars isn't just about having public transport and cycle lanes. It's about having amenities and activities close by too.

We've been lucky to have activities for the DC that are close by (and car share with other parents) but sometimes matches are much further away!

We had two cars until 2007 and have managed with one since then.

I keep trying to convince my DH that we don't need a car but we've a fully paid 11 plate car that isn't costing us too much to maintain and it makes our lives much more convenient so it's not happening yet.

Yes the infrastructure should be better but as I said earlier it also about have the right amenities and activities nearby too.

DB lives rurally. His job is in a village 2 miles aeay. He used to cycle it, now he drives. Whereas I live in London and cycle to my nearest tube station, 2.5 miles away. (Folded bike, take it to work with me) DB ridicules my lack of a car, and I call him a lazy bastard for driving to work. But we are in different environments, and social cultures. 🙎‍♀️

(I don't know how that gender emoji got there)

spikeysmooth similar here. A village 3 miles from a town (2 supermarkets and a high street, but still, bigger than the village). There is one bus an hour and they stop at 6. Theoretically, you could walk it, but most of the walk is a country road which can't allow 2 cars to pass. Now, what could happen is that the farmers be asked to give over some of their fields for pavements, but I can't see that ever happening.

@ivykaty44

ive been out this morning and on the way home came across roughly a mile and a half of drivers queuing in amongst them was my neighbour in his car, they queue in the weekday morning but its worse on a Saturday lunch time, I went across the park and out to another road and again that road is congested with drivers going at approx 3mph

I get home and about 20 minutes later my neighbour pulls up and literally moans about the amount of drivers on the road - so why doesn't he see his obsession with driving is no different from others and he is the traffic that is holding up other drivers?

if all the drivers that are able were using other forms of decent transport then you'd have one bus instead of 50 cars and it'd be quicker with 10 buses. whizzy round to where everyone wants to go

If you want to sit in queues of other cars, then fine but it will appear to the 30% that your completely crackers & obsessed with cars, unless of course your literally not able to

Totally. If just a portion of those people were on bikes or in buses, the traffic jam would not be nearly as bad.

There appears to be a significant segment of the population who don't seem to understand that some people would PREFER to cycle or bus (if the pt system were good). That, despite owning a car, I used to cycle to work every day. I've stacked on the weight since moving house and the cycling got more scary!

There was a poster on another thread today (possibly one of the cost of living ones, or maybe an environment one, I can't remember) who said that when she worked in Dublin, two of her senior colleagues always drove into work, even though getting through the traffic took twice as long as just getting on the DART or tram around the corner from their respective houses, and getting that straight to/from work. No rational reason for driving, but they did it anyway. Even when the public transport links are as modern and convenient as they could possibly be, some people still need their steering wheels prising out of their cold, dead hands.

@Octomingo

spikeysmooth similar here. A village 3 miles from a town (2 supermarkets and a high street, but still, bigger than the village). There is one bus an hour and they stop at 6. Theoretically, you could walk it, but most of the walk is a country road which can't allow 2 cars to pass. Now, what could happen is that the farmers be asked to give over some of their fields for pavements, but I can't see that ever happening.

Three miles is as close as my village is to the nearest town. Buses are frequent but I cycle anyway. It's only three miles and I can easily do that with shopping (up to 25kg, which is the limit on my pannier rack, conveniently the weight of a full sack of potatoes). I hardly break a sweat.

This is another planning issue I think. The fact that so many kids living in the same area go to different schools, sometime quite far away, makes for all the more transportation issues.

It's not a planning issue, it's a parental choice issue

It's not the distance, it's how dangerous the road is. I don't like driving it, so I wouldn't like to cycle or walk it. It's national speed limit, bendy and hedgy, with passing places for cars.

@Octomingo

Roads are not dangerous, people make an area dangerous by how they abuse a space

@ivykaty44 of course some roads can be really dangerous to walk or cycle. Inevitably it's people being hurt or killed on certain sections of roads that leads to the road network being improved.
Sad but true. OK some roads are improved because of congestion others it's dangerous junctions, bends, and the number of accidents that leads to we need to do something about it.
Nobody wants to be the statistic that leads to change.

I've been involved in lobbying over a stretch of road that gets driven far to fast. Council don't see the need for traffic calming. The locals can see that it's a matter of time before another person is killed.

I've also walked a couple of stretches of roads that I vowed never to walk again.
One a small back road full of blind bends so you can't see what's coming towards you.
The second an A road straight but incredibly busy both cars and trucks with a wall at the side of the road so not even a grass verge to step on to.

driven far to fast

It’s the drivers choosing to make the space dangerous by driving faster than appropriate for the space

You may have lobbied for change but ultimately you had to change behaviour by force

The space itself wasn’t dangerous if drivers weren’t present

"It's not a planning issue, it's a parental choice issue"

Some children will not be able to attend a local school or have found that the local school isn't suitable for their child's needs. Ds has never been able to attend a local school, the nearest suitable being nearly 1 hour away.

I've been involved in lobbying over a stretch of road that gets driven far to fast. Council don't see the need for traffic calming. The locals can see that it's a matter of time before another person is killed.

Do you really believe it’s the councillors that are the problem ?

Can you not understand if you took the drivers away from the road that the road itself is not dangerous but the drivers make it dangerous by their behaviour? It’s drivers that choose to make a space dangerous - no one forces them to drive faster

I should clarify the road I've lobbied about isn't either of the ones I refuse to walk. The one I've lobbied about "feels" safe because it's got a footpath and is a wide section of A road. But I know vehicles go far too fast. Last year alone 3 vehicles went off road on the same 100 yards stretch. But council still don't see the issue.

I work 15 miles away from my house. To leave car at home and fully use public transport would cost me over £10 a day and would have me walking to a bus stop, waiting around, waiting some more at the train station then a 10 minute walk to the office. It would take just over an hour, each way.

I can drive it in 25 minutes, door to door. My car is small and economical and I own it outright. I don't pay tax and the insurance is less than £20 a month. So even with the astronomical rise in fuel prices it's still cheaper to drive and considerably quicker.

I don't tolerate my car, I need it, because public transport is long winded, expensive and inconvenient.

We live rurally, but cut down to one car about 2 years ago. It's annoying about 3% of the time, so not enough to justify the added expense.

Public transport has been cut down a lot, but there's a school (public) bus to our catchment secondary over 4 miles away, which we have to pay for. DH and I are low earners and £4 per day has a real impact on our wages, so we lift share instead.
If either of us want to earn more money (definitely before next winter so we can have the heating on!) we will need another car.