to think people who say they cant live without there car are stupid ?

[lins1uk]

havent got a car yet, my dp is taking lessons and will be getting a car when he passes but people who say they cant live without there car are surely stupid ?
havent they heard of the bus or tram etc ?
i have two kids and one on the way and i will still use public transport when we have a car!
plus i walk 25 mins to school and 25 mins back twice a day i just think people who rely on there car for everything are just plain lazy,
i agree it is nice to have a car but its not everything!
sorry if you feel diffrent but thats how i feel!

We we lived in London both dh & I communted between 40-60 minutes a day (mix of tube/bus/walking) obviously didn't drive to work.

Now we've moved out (no way we could afford to live there anymore) I'm a SAHM & use the car a couple of times a month during the week & at weekends. Buses are dire & I won't use them (expensive, desperately slow, dirty, smelly & generally foul & dangerous), I mostly walk but sometimes use the train (expensive, overcrowded & vile). DH has the most fuel efficient car we could afford (gets 50-60 miles/gallon) and commutes 2-3 hours per day depending on where he's working. Despite looking for a job that he could commute by train or bike for the past 5 years.

Pre-DS I had a 20 minute walk to the station, 40 minute train journey, 15 minute walk to the office. I drove sometimes but it took longer.

Post-DS I have a different job and it's a 20 minute drive. No public transport possible.

Riven, you#ll be glad to knwo that there were no plaster or visable Phlegm!

My commute is 3 miles to the kids school and three miles from their school to mine.
In the past I've done a 50 miles in each direction commute, which was a total PITA. We were limited in where we could live because dh was in the RAF, and I had quite a specialist job at the time.

The kids & I will happily walk for anything up to about a hour each way before we'd use the train or car BUT I have the luxury of time. No work deadlines or school pick up times. My mum uses her car for journeys that I wouldn't consider not walking but she has every minute of her day filled (job, private clients, daughter at school, caring for elderly parents). There's no way she could fulfill those responsibilities without a car.

My commute is two miles to school, and then aboug 6-7 miles to work.

If there was decent, reliable, regular public tranposrt, I'd consider giving up my car.

DH works about 10 miles from work, and works odd shifts, so public transport out of the question. I daresay he could cycle to work, but who could blame him for not wanting to cycle home 10 miles after a minimum 9 hour shift at say midnight? Or after an 11 hour shift at 3 am? or a 15 hour shift at 7 am?

DH - 10 miles from home.

We have two school age children + neither of us drive, however we're in the position of being high earners + are both very close to our jobs + the school, as well as having good public transport links.

We could afford to run a car, but use the money instead for transport, (neither of us have taken to driving). We can afford to book a taxi when needed though, or to travel by train first class if it's a long journey, so we're guaranteed the comfort with our two children, (who love trains + buses anyway)!

We're often asked by people how we manage, are our kids missing out, etc? Our reply is that we pay for transport as + when we need it, we refuse to rely on other people!

I often ferry other people's children around by buses + taxis, as I don't expect other people to do all the running, eg, if they drop my children home after inviting them over, then I like to do the same for them.

We live in a city but could not manage without a car.

Dh works about 40 miles away from home and travels around during the working day from school to school. He also has to carry a lot of equipment (musical instruments etc. A van would do but instead he has a car that we can also use for the family.

I wonder the same, Riven. They seem to assume that the children miss out on after school activities, day trips etc, but we always seem to be out doing something with them, this half term they've rarely been in!

I hope you manage to get some rest tonight after your busy day, how old is your dd?

And I think adults who insist on writing 'there' instead of 'their' are surely stupid. Haven't they had any formal schooling whatsoever?

Sorry if you feel different but that's how I feel!

(My best effort to imitate OP.)

onthepier - it's great to read what you write.

As for dd missing out - currently she is only 17months. So I will have lots and lots of ongoing reevaluating to do. But this weekend we did the park, the beach, a donkey and horse farm, swimming, and (unexcitingly) some food shopping. And went over to water a friend's houseplants and did some housework. For a toddler that sounds an ok weekend really.

If you don't have a car you tend to look for activities nearby, so your children are plugged in to the local community. You don't weigh up whether the swimming lessons 5 miles away are superior, you go to the local pool. You don't have one in ballet at 4 and another in gym at 5 - you do one activity per day. It's a less stressful approach to life!

is this thing still going on?

It is almost impossible to get to work via public transport where I live. I could move house or job, but the car is a much cheaper & simpler option.

Well a 45 minute car journey would take over 3 hours by the only alternative, the train, & actually would be impossible if I was starting earlier than normal or finishing late.

If there was somewhere to walk to then I would have no problem doing that!

lol at Katymac "I don't have space for a horse"

enid

in the last 2 months i have racked up 6 points

i managed 20 years driving with a clean license

i now drive s l o w l y

Well I don't

I did consider a horse & trap for the nursery run - but apparently the council didn't think I could fit car seats safely in one

Well I'm a childminder....so there were issues

If I didn't have to work then I wouldn't need a car. As simple as that.

But.. since I do have to work then I am one of those stupid people who cannot live their cars! It is logistically impossible to drop DC at nursery and then get to my place of work in time. Nursery opens at 8am, I have to be in work (5 miles away through windy country lanes with no bus service) at 8.30am - you do the maths.

I suppose if I were really trying I could drop the DC outside the nursery on their own at 7am so that I could get the train and then a bus to work. After all the eldest is 3 now...

Well you don't have a child with dyspraxia who can't walk well.
As for stupid, at least I can spell their.