To wonder why is Mumsnet so anti-car?

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There is at least one thread a week on here demonizing cars! What is with all the hate? I know they cause pollution and can kill people however they’ve revolutionized the way we live! Not all of us are fortunate enough to live somewhere with good public transport.

Well my gym rant turned into 'why don't you walk there if the car park is so busy' so I'm inclined to agree.

People do get so upset if their car use is called into question. Odd.

I agree op, I'd love love love to have a bus within safe walking distance but I would be taking a huge risk walking the hour on pathless roads to the nearest bus stop, which has a grand total of a three busses a day.

Someone has to live in the country. My neighbours are all hard working farmers and labourers and many of them drive the dreaded large off road vehicles for obvious reasons, yet not a week goes by when I don't see us demonised. The local school has no pedestrian access but the cries on here for the shame of having to drive are numerous. Not to mention those whose disabilities prevent them from doing so. Of.course, Mumsnet only care about the visible acceptable wheelchair bound face of disability and even then only as far as they think everything can be solved with a blue badge.

Maybe it's because they all live in places with good transport links. Maybe it's because they know they can virtue signal in anonymity without people calling out their hypocrisy (for example, how many of them have dogs which have a huge carbon footprint compared to a car) maybe it's because they are a bit thick.

And yes, there's obviously the other side of that where people are dismissive of those who don't drive. Admittedly I have not seen these threads. However, I wonder if there's a bit of context missing there like people who dislike others wanting on about the environment yet always seem to need a lift from us demonic car owners.

I haven't noticed that at all. More often it is anti those who don't drive, as many posters have already said. Apparently, if you don't drive it's hardly worth being alive!

I disagree with you.

There are many more posts criticising those who can't drive, don't like driving or don't want to drive than there are anti-car posts.

I fall into the don't like/want to drive much category. I can drive, but prefer to be a local driver only. Otherwise, I make the effort to get to public transport if I want to go further afield.

So, I am one of the sorts who can be criticised and judged on here, but I couldn't give a shit what others think to be honest.

I suspect that many people can’t imagine living anywhere different from where they live. It’s part of the reason that people demand a diagram on parking threads.

If you live in the countryside with two buses a day, you’ll need a car.

If you live in central London, you (and your children) will get buses and tubes. Even after dark.

Because they kill people? In so many different ways - accidents, air pollution, inactivity etc. The more people leave the car at home, the better off we will be.

I totally agree. The default on here is that everyone has a car and if you don t, you should get one😁

I object to courts not taking motoring crimes seriously, and being allowed to accept bleeding heart excuses and not ban someone.

This. My son, a pedestrian, was seriously injured and left maimed for life. The person responsible got a £500 fine.

This.

Obesity kills people. Try rocking up on any thread and suggest a healthy BMI is desirable. See what happens.

Dogs kill people. Go on a doggy thread and suggest unnecessary dog ownership stopped.

Bottom line is cars are necessary. Yes, even for Londoners who get the bus everyday. You still need the farmers and labourers to be able.to get you your food on time.

People should just count their blessings if they don't need a car, rather than use it as a weird way to feel superior.

Agree, I'm apparently a huge loser who is entitled and expects people to drive me around.

I have noticed many anti cycling threads.
many anti traffic calming measures threads.

cars are great. but they should not be the automatic choice for transport for everyone.

up to 1.5 miles is great walking distance.
up to 5 miles is great cycling distance.
trains are (often) wonderful.

Drivers who maim or kill should be treated like anybody else.

£500 fine for maiming someone is scandalous- they should be imprisoned.

You won't find many car owners who disagree.
A friend's husband recently got banned for texting whilst driving.
Good I thought. Makes the roads safer for me.

Is it?

I thought the opposite. Majority view quite negative towards people who can’t drive.

Although I am always a bit surprised by the number of people on here who live ‘very’ rurally (I live in Australia so the distances involved in being ‘very rural’ are quite different) but can’t/don’t drive. There are pretty regular posts from those people with some emergency or other that would be easily dealt with if they could drive a car.

I haven’t seen a lot of anti car sentiment but I think it’s really ignorant to just tell people to move somewhere with good public transport. We have good public transport where I live but to afford a house we had to move to the outskirts of town because the centre was just too expensive to rent or buy. So, if I wanted to shop for a family of four I’d have to get two buses and then carry like, 5 bags up a massive hill and that would take an hour there and an hour back. I’m not doing that and I highly doubt those people would either. It would have been even more difficult when my kids were young and in pushchairs. I love my car ❤️

I have been called a defective human being and leech ...

because I won't drive (can't afford a car for a start). I live 4 min walk from shops, 10 min from supermarket, 7 min from work and on bus routes to town and city.

So no, I don't think mumsnet is anti car. Quite the opposite.

MN isn’t anti-car, give me a break.

How can you be surprised if people live rurally? Where do you think your food comes from? Surely you have seen the set up of the UK outside of London or big cities?
It's not about the distance either, it's about safety. There's a notorious 500 stretch of non pavement road where I am. It's the access to the local village and transport links. Since I have lived there there have been five fatal accidents and personally, when I see someone with a pram or a child on it I worry for them and yes, inwardly judge them taking that risk.
You'd probably applaud them though for not using a car. Well, they'll need an ambulance out to them if something happens which it does far too frequently so I can't see what a massive benefit to society it's meant to be.

I think sometimes the anti car feeling comes from people who have cars but don't need to use them, which aggravates all the environmentalists.

Then there's the idea that only people who live rurally need cars, when in fact there are plenty of v built up, urban areas with very limited public transport. NE Wales being a prime example.

How can you be surprised if people live rurally?

They're not. They’re surprised by the number of people who live rurally but can’t drive.

Because it’s often done sanctimoniously and with no knowledge (because it’s an anonymous forum) of a poster’s place of residence.

Because a lot of people assume that because they can live without a car, everyone else can as well.

Lots of people on here are completely oblivious to how bad public transport is in many areas of the country. They have buses that run every 10-15 minutes and don't seem to realise that millions of people have no access to a bus at all.

They have Ubers and taxis on their doorstep and don't realise that in many rural towns, you need to book your taxi weeks in advance, especially if you want it on a Friday night after going to the pub.

The problem with this is that cars promote obesity. Both because people drive rather than walking, cycling etc and because cars shape the environment so it's less pleasant to walk, more dangerous with kids etc. Cars also cause social isolation in many cases as you don't interact in car the way you do on the bus or walking etc. Social isolation also causes ill health.

In the flip side, cars help to stop people being isolated where there's no alternative transport or disability is a factor etc.

I think there are pros and cons to cars, but overall they have a negative impact. Really we'd be better having them but using them less. Particularly in built up areas.