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.

You name it MN is anti it !

I see the opposite, criticism for not driving. Imagine how busy the roads would be, traffic, lack of parking spaces if everyone drove.. and yet people are shamed for it and discounted on dating apps.

Which would be fine, but nuanced posts are a rarity because everyone thinks they're the next scowling Greta.

Trust me, my life would be a lot simpler if people who don't need to use cars did so, but I recognise that the majority of people do when they can. (Although maybe that's just the rural attitude, perhaps city dwellers are more selfish. Massive generalisation, but who knows)

And I don't buy that cars cause obesity. I rely on cars to get to places where I can do effective exercise. Walking is not aerobic enough to stop obesity if you work.

haha! very true

Case near us of a similar fine for serious injury. It was because we as a society can never say something is a pure accident we have to blame someone so they go down well it shouldn't have happened so you must have been careless. Hence it's now RTC not RTA as accident implies no one is to blame....sometimes outside factors means no one really is it's just unfortunate.

I find human factors of investigation interesting yet we never seem to apply it to accidents so it's never lose of situational awareness, sensory overload etc it's just careless.

OP I think MN are against anyone staying with petrol cars vs going green with electric. I would love to see city areas ban registration of petrol car to city centre address and mandate electric. I also think we should have incentives for semi-rural areas to install solar panels such as being able to pay for them by say a reduction in council tax until they are paid for. Used electric cars are so cheap now

This is the only place I have ever been told I am lacking life skills by not learning to drive!
Don't ever mention that you ride a bike either.

I've always thought of mumsnet as extremely pro car (with the exception of driving kids to school because that's obviously the worst thing ever).

I suffer with driving anxiety so my husband does a lot of our driving so I'm pretty much mn's worst nightmare! (I plan to tackle this when our kids are older and I'm in a position to get extra lessons for my confidence and I do force myself to drive sometimes as it's something I want to do).

The is a thread full of people going frantic o er the number of people killed by dogs each year. 10. Compare this to the hundreds or thousands killed by cars each year.

Obesity kills people, but cars cause obesity. The Netherlands save thousands of lives each year by getting people onto bikes and making exercise a normal part of the day.

@CruCru I agree that people can’t imagine how others live. I was jealous of my brother who lived in central London because of the public transport but he and his wife drove everywhere. 30 seconds to pick up milk (honestly took more time to get in the car than it would have done to walk to the shop). Half a mile to pick up a takeaway. And 20 minutes to their favourite artisan market. Huge SUV they “couldn’t manage without”. We live in the countryside, 1.5 miles from the nearest shop and I walk at least half of the time eg always walk on weekends when I don’t have a deadline to be home by, but it was all the time before children. We have a hatchback and I think we have plenty of room.

Is it that simple or do the Netherlands have other factors like medical care, flexible working and geography influencing those stats?

People who think we can just export solutions from other countries without adapting them are, ime, rather thick.

'Really?! That's never been the impression I get - the opposite in fact, if you don't drive, you're considered to have failed in some fundamental way as an adult.'

This ^ lose count the amount of times I've seen none drivers stealing lifts off their driving collegues/friends/relatives etc. Never were these lifts offered but always taken against the drivers will.

(as a side note - I find it baffling that so many people want to take up their time going to a supermarket in person, I have been doing online grocery shopping for 20 years and I don't know anyone under 70 who doesn't. I really don't get why that's used to justify cars.)

They give you all the nearly gone off food so if you want to eat healthily you are better off choosing in person.
Also substitution means you can meal plan and then find something really fundamental for the whole meal isn't available (but is if you venture in store)

If you shop in person you can go to ALDI or LIDL which can be significantly cheaper than an online shop. You can also buy all the yellow sticker items that aren't available online.

I visit the Netherlands most years.

There is excellent public transport well beyond that in the UK (not everywhere but much more), and cycling provision definitely seems to have an impact on obesity (look at the average 20 something man or woman and compare with the UK). No idea about flexible working, there are rural parts of the Netherlands too.

I have felt much more comfortable when cycling there than anywhere else.

We had delivery for years. But aldi and lidl are cheaper and they don't deliver.

Did you last do it in 2000? That used be a problem but it hasn't been for a long time.

I haven't had this issue at all

This is the sense I've gotten from various threads too.

Nope, a few weeks ago. Desperate for it to work as exhausted in third trimester, but cost of living and needing to eat healthily are priorities.

Again, other experiences may be different to yours.
I can accept that just as you may have wonderful transport links, you may also have good delivery services.
I don't need to invalidate your experience just to acknowledge mine.

Obesity kills people, but cars cause obesity. The Netherlands save thousands of lives each year by getting people onto bikes and making exercise a normal part of the day

This is way, way too simplistic.

For starters, cars don't cause obesity - they may contribute to it, but owning a car doesn't suddenly turn you obese.

The infrastructure and geography of the Netherlands is drastically different to the UK. It's flat, for starters, making cycling much much easier - it's also set up to be bike friendly. I can't cycle on roads anywhere from my town without going on narrow NSL roads with no cycle path or pavement, or without going up (or down) a ridiculously steep hill.

It might be fine for super fit adults to be cycle on, but it's far far too dangerous for children. The roads are just not safe.

You just can't compare the two in any meaningful way.

I have never noticed this to be the case .

Online shopping is a lot cheaper than owning and running a car and the way a lot of posters talk, the supermarket run is their main reason for owning one!

You can't conclude 'mumsnet' is anti car over 3 posts. That's a small minority of posts. So really the question is why are some people very anti-car, a question you answered yourself.

You cannot discuss driving or cycling on MN any more without everyone getting very defensive about their own very particular reasons for doing any of it. 🤷‍♀️
People that live in areas with zero public transport get berated for daring to live there.
You can play Bingo on those threads.

If you post a driving scenario asking if you were in the wrong, whatever happened you will be told you were and ‘you should not be on the road’.

You don't need to be superfit to cycle up a hill!

Bikes have gears and some are electric.

I'm a short, dumpy middle aged woman and I cycle up hills everyday. Against the wind on the school run this week.

The barriers to doing that are entirely mental for all but those with some health problems or disabilities.

(Cue 25 people shouting at me that they can't do it because they've got a health problem or a disability...)