To wonder why we allow the sale of so many cars that don't fit a standard space?

[Bussesrus]

We are looking for a new car that will fit all 6 of us plus our dogs. Having looked at many options just about everything with a third row and boot space will hang over into another space by anything from .2 to nearly a meter. Where exactly are you meant to park these SUVs and vans?

I only passed my test last year and am aware I'm not an expert enough driver to switch vehicles easily. The landrover is a diesel, the gearbox is in a different position and reverse is on the other side of it, I'd be unsure if it's clearance at the sides. For now I'm focusing on the small car (which I am a good driver in, before the mob descend to say I shouldn't drive unless I believe I'm perfect, as has come up on other threads!)

Yes, North Yorkshire! And I drive a manual anyway. I learnt in one so I'd have a better choice of car to buy.

My objection to the huge cars is when non-disabled drivers park illegally in spaces for disabled drivers because of the extra space and the non-plussed looks they give when asked if they are dusabled and if not to please move. My friends mum can only walk with elbow crutches and has to park close to the entrance to shops to use the wheelchairs and was verbally attacked in respinse to a polite request for them to vacate the disabled bay as they were not in possession of a disability parking permit.

Again in a lot of country towns you had trains to get to work, and they were reliable. Thanks to Dr Beeching that's no longer an option. It's one we'd have chosen over a car if we could though. Again in Richmond (N Yorks) the railway station was closed down too. Buses are two per hour at their peak but roughly a quarter don't come and they're the first to stop in snow.

I agree re CD players (mine, 15 years old, has one). It does not have a cigarette lighter but does have one power socket. Previous car had a cigarette lighter and a power socket, so I could plug in a satnave and charge up my phone - bit annoying!

@BlackShuck3 I read your proposal that journeys of less than 2 miles by car should be penalised with the addition that there should be safe cycling and walking places and more buses (?). We have just had cycle lanes (with concrete kerbs and also metal bollards) put on the road I live on, which already has a permanent bus lane. It is one of the main arterial roads out of the city leading to a motorway. It gets utterly clogged and now, whether I go out of my drive forwards or backwards (and mostly it is backwards because even my intrepid driver DSs won't back in anymore) I have to throw my car into the traffic. At dusk, the bollards cannot be seen - a hazard to drivers. Also, cyclists ride on the wrong side of the road (there are 2 cycle lanes, one on either side of the road) which is just waiting for an accident when someone turns out of a side-road at dusk whilst a cyclist is going the wrong way.

This is all very environmental, but not very helpful to local residents.
As to going shopping (which some have raised as a problem re car journey00) I have a small supermarket within 5 minutes' walk of my house (an Aldi, which I use all the time) but I take my car if I am going to buy more than one bag of shopping, which I need to do at least once a fortnight. Three or four bags are too heavy to carry even the short distance I live - 2 miles would be impossible for me and for many others.
I also drive to my local church twice a week - it's roughly a mile away and I can see the spire - once to morning service and once to bellringing practice. Occasionally I walk, if it's dry. But if I want to ring bells in another tower I need my car, even though the church might be less than 2 miles away, because to walk would take nearly an hour and there are no direct buses to any of the churches where I ring. So if I cannot drive this activity is severely restricted.
I also drive to my ballroom dancing class, using the M-way - it takes ten minutes but would be inaccessible without a car. And there is no class nearer that I can go to. So I would have to stop this leisure activity, too, as would many of the participants, putting the dance teacher out of business as well.
To suggest that we do not drive if the distance is under 2 miles, or that we use public transport or a cycle, will (like the 15-minute city) trap most people - and certainly older people - in their homes. And old people may have to be reliant totally on the goodwill and time of others to go anywhere, which means they will mostly go nowhere.
The car has given unprecedented freedom, and has freed women in particular to go out in the evening and go to places far from home. That some now desire this freedom to be curtailed in the name of environmentalism suggests to me more than a desire to 'save the planet' (the planet is too complex for us to have much effect) but may be a wish to go back to the days when only the well-off were able to travel or have leisure activities away from home - or meet other people and talk with them. Stopping people talking to each other is also, I suspect, the desire behind demanding 'fake news' be taken off the internet, and that access should be controlled. I wonder who decides what 'fake news' is (many trans supporters would cite the feminist boards on MN) and who would control access to sites such as MN?

So, to get this clear, you are blaming the fact that it's difficult to drive anywhere because the roads are clogged with too many cars....on bikes ? 🤔

Is there a reason you can't walk a mile to church? Do you have mobility issues? Or walk- or indeed cycle- the two miles to the other church?

It's not the bikes that are causing all the congestion and difficulties in your city- it's all the other people who can't be arsed to walk or cycle a mile or two.

You’d hope that most healthy, fit adults could walk a couple of miles, including with a few bags of shopping!

Who has time to do that though? I get my shop delivered ( better as they deliver lots of peoples shopping) or nip in when passing. The idea of taking a couple of hours a week to wander back and forth to the supermarket is very unappealing.

Lol @ people being "trapped in their homes" by not being able to drive a distance less than 2 miles. No wonder we're so unfit as a society.
I'm not talking about anyone with mobility issues, elderly etc etc of course.

Bags are cumbersome, a good back pack is best!

I have a very sturdy and reliable backpack 😃.

My house is reasonably new build (2007ish), double driveway… it’s so narrow though… unless you both drive Fiat 500s you’d never get the bloody doors open.

I dont wander, I walk at top speed. For me it's a 2 mile round trip so that's half an hour of low intensity cardio.

I need my car, even though the church might be less than 2 miles away, because to walk would take nearly an hour
@Grammarnut
Seriously, it takes you NEARLY AN HOUR TO WALK LESS THAN 2 MILES?!
🤣
can you not pick up the pace a bit?

There are clearly very very few healthy fit adults.
Probably because they never fecking walk anywhere🤣

Definitely smaller cars, I'm right with you there and yes it would benefit the environment.
As a driver of a small car myself I'm pissed off with returning to my vehicle to find it sandwiched between two massive SUVs with me struggling to get back in my own vehicle.
The size (and quantity) of these vehicles is just ridiculous now.

Not all roads have safe walking or cycling routes. I could easily walk the couple of miles into the nearest village but it wouldn't be safe to do so, it would mean pushing a wheelchair chair along the NSL B road that has blind bends and no verges. The problem has been heightened since the nearest small town closed their roads to all HGVs meaning these big wagons are forced on to small country lanes.

Hi op,
a compact suv should work well for you and you can park in one space 👌🏼

It's because of the improvement in safety, both for people in the car and pedestrians. The crumble zone in that old Beetle is the driver, whereas the Corsa is much more likely to survive an accident with the safety cell (aka where us squishy humans sit) intact.

My Dad was a fireman about 40 years ago and has some real horror stories of car accidents!

Cars have got bigger imo because 1. most people are now overweight
and 2. many drivers can't actually drive so seek the safety of some oversized monster machine

How long would it take you?

I'm fairly fit, I do martial arts twice a week and a LOT of stairs. I feel like I walk briskly. I reckon it would take me about 40-45 minutes for two miles.

I reckon on 2 miles an hour when I'm out on a big hike on the coast path or summat. But that includes food and drink (and staring at things) breaks, picking over rocks, steep hills etc.

When our bus demanifested itself on a walk last winter, a friend and I covered the 4 miles back to our starting point, walking on a quiet road, in an hour.

We have a huge 7-seater. We used to have a smaller 7-seater that would fit our 4 hulking teenagers. When it finally decayed beyond repair and we went looking for a newer one we found that there are far fewer on the market these days. We had to choose from what was available. I just park at the far ends of car parks and walk further. It has side slide doors, so that makes life a little less challenging.

I HATE these vehicles. They are ugly, polluting and damage our roads - no wonder there are so many potholes. I parked next to one at a supermarket a few weeks back, did a shop with a three year old in tow and came back to find another SUV parked on the other side of my small car. I couldn't get in and had to stand in the rain for ten minutes until one of the drivers returned. Not even an apology!