What would your life change if you had to get rid of your car/could no longer drive

[Netcurtainnelly]

Do you ever worry about this?
How would it change your life tomorrow?
Which things would not be possible anymore?

I forgot, no access to GP, dentist, vets, hairdressers etc.

Id have to move house.
We live in a village with zero public transport so id have to move to a town.

We’d have to move as we are very rural and it’s needed for everything. The kids wouldn’t accept it but they’d have to. To be honest I’d rather live near a town and not be so dependent!

I wouldn't be able to get to work and would struggle to get to see friends.

I’m just a bit intolerant of them and I know that’s my fault.

It sounds like you have good reason to be!

It would be awful because I have a motability car for my disabled son and public transport is a nightmare. I'd struggle to get him to his never ending appointments.

I would have to try and get my work contact changed to remote as it’s not really practical to get to work on public transport.
I’d have to rely on DH a lot for lifts.
I’d probably actually look at moving house to the closest large town so I could use buses more.

We would be fine as live in a city close to good public transport stops, however we would struggle to visit elderly relatives who live an hour away. It would take 3+ hours each way to visit one house by public transport. We would struggle to go camping too, but only do it once a year.

We got rid of our car over a year ago. My husband had some health issues and lost his confidence, and I hate driving and rarely do it, so we thought we'd try life without a car for a while. It's been a success - we live on the edge of a medium-sized city, but public transport is fantastic (regular buses, and a metro rail network with trains every 15 minutes). Most activities in our small town are an easy walk or cycle away, and our children's hobbies are all within a 20 minute walk of our house. We work a mile from home so that's an easy walk or cycle too. We can easily get into the city, or a nearby big town, on public transport if we want to.

The only downside is that long-distance train travel around the UK can be unreliable and expensive. I go to London often and that service is pretty good - but getting to my in-laws' house without a car is challenging, and we did a holiday to Cornwall by train and it cost £400 and took about 9 hours to get there.

Long term we will probably buy a car again, but our plan is to use it for long journeys (UK holidays, visiting family and friends etc), and to continue to use public transport or walking/cycling locally.

I'm always surprised by the number of Mumsnetters who live very rurally and have no public transport.

Cheaper and one less thing to worry about. Would take retirement as wouldn’t be able to continue in current job.
But I live in a decent sized town 20min walk from the centre and am fairly fit. Bus stop a five minute walk, bus station 20 min walk, major train station 40 min walk.

I’d lose my job.

I wouldn’t be able to work…I’m a wedding and funeral celebrant, and live very rurally! I often have two (occasionally three!) funeral services on the same day, but in different locations, with up to an hours drive between crematoriums! I’d NEVER manage that on public transport! 🤯

Nothing would change. I can’t drive so my life is geared towards living without one. OH does drive, but he works away during the week so it’s all on me anyway.

It would barely make any difference to me as I live in central London. We mostly use the tube and can go for months without getting in the car. It would make a few journeys a bit more difficult, like visiting NT properties outside London and holidays to places like Cornwall. But taxis could probably fill the gap, or we'd just opt to visit somewhere else.

This may happen to me due to a health issue that I’ve developed. Luckily I have hobbies that I do in the house but it would be so difficult to take my young children out and about.

I’ve already decided I would just think sod it and spend a few hundred pound a month on taxis. We only have one car so it would be like getting a second car or finance.

Public transport is terrible here but moving wouldn’t be an option.

Worrying about it currently as I have cancer and there is a concern it will/has spread to my brain. I find out on Monday. 😞 I would have to forfeit my licence immediately.

We live rurally and would not be able to move. I can’t even get my kids to school without driving, though one could walk to the secondary school bus across muddy fields. There is really no public transport here, maybe a bus to the nearest town that runs a couple times a day. No trains. Even the hospital where I go for my treatment is an hour away. No shops nearby.

It would be left to Dh to drive us all everywhere. I’d mostly just be at home. It doesn’t bear thinking about frankly. 😩

I live rurally, 9 miles from the nearest town where my children are at school, 15 miles from work. There is no public transport at all within 8 miles of my house.

Would have to move house and possibly change jobs. It’s literally car or nothing.

No big deal - can’t drive now! Live in central London, having a car would be annoying most of the time.

Not voting because while I can drive, we don't own a car and husband has epilepsy so can't. We've planned our life around public transport, cycle routes and being within walking distance of shops, gp chemist etc. We wouldn't be able to hire a car as we currently do which would make some things more inconvenient (mainly visiting friends and relatives who live in more isolated areas) but we would manage.

We live fairly rurally so it would be difficult getting to the DC’s clubs and visiting family. We could get to shops/nursery/GP fine but everything else would be a nightmare.

And 💐 to you @mindutopia. I have just been diagnosed with cancer and the waiting for test results is terrifying. Keeping everything crossed for you that it hasn't.

This happened to me (following an operation that went wrong).
Biggest thing was independence, everything has to be thought through because my mobility is poor its how far to public transport, how often (as i get tired quick).
Dc2 was most affected as had to give up some extra curricular.
I don't notice much day to day now but sometimes it really hits me eg dc was really ill (adult) and getting to him was difficult and took longer. This then upsets me as its another thing that my disability takes from me.
If I'd still have been able to work I'd have lost my job as it was visiting people in their own homes and covering about 250 mile radius.
If I couldn't drive but was fit and healthy it would be easier.
If I was able to work and earn reasonable money again it would be less of a financial burden (taxis and even community transport adds up).
Somethings are easier to adapt eg online supermarket shops. But other things like getting to appointments are difficult.

I would have to move.
Nearest town is 20 miles away, and transport is practically non-existent where I live.

I need my car to get DS to the school bus, until June when he leaves.

Otherwise, I & DS can get to work, and to anything I need, safely, either by bus or bike or walking, despite living 4 miles outside the closest town.

I had to get the bus somewhere this week. To drive normally takes me 10 mins. The walk to the bus stop was 25 minutes. The bus was late. The journey on the bus took 25 mins. Stuff that.