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?

This actually happened to DSIS. She went for a routine eye test and discovered she has an eye condition that bars her from driving (as in "you cant drive home- get someone else to pick your car up"). Fortunately, at the time she lived in an Asian city with amazing public transport so she has just stayed there and probably will for life.

For me - massively inconvenient but not devastating (live in urban Dorset) and live within a 10-15 min walk of big Tesco and M&S food/ Boots/ doctors/ dentist/ coffee shops/ post office etc. and everywhere delivers. Main impact would be on DD who would have to give up a sport as I just wouldn't be able to get her to matches efficiently although I guess she could ask for lifts and taxi to the lift giver's house or accept its 3 hours each way on the train/ taxi. I'd also massively miss my tip runs :-) and get a tonne of taxis. It would also really effect holidays although I guess DH could drive but on a 9hr run through France it's good if you can tag team.

Ironically it would be more straightforward to get to London than to get to DC's school 20 mins away by public transport. This is the issue with public transport being v London centric- if you want to go cross country, a route that you could drive in 60-90 minutes can take 3+ hours.

No but I’m in London and public transport is great

Your last paragraph is spot on. We are very well-served by public transport and I travel all over the UK on trains, buses and when needed, taxis. As you say, this was factored in when choosing where to live and we’re well- served too by green spaces

Wouldn’t affect me or DH much at all

The DC would struggle to get to their sports practices and matches which currently take up most of the weekend. We’d need to beg for lifts for them a lot and guess we’d use taxis to reciprocate.

Going to see my parents would be harder but doable but visiting my ILs would be pretty much impossible. But currently they can drive here.

It would change not just my life but the life of the child who lives with me. I am a foster carer to a child with who is very complex medically and we have permanence meaning we should be together until they reach the age of at least 18 but without a driving licence I couldn't get to all the appointments etc that we attend and I couldn't get to their school when I am needed (which can happen several times a week). This child has been with me for almost all of their life, I cannot begin to imagine the heartbreak it would bring to them.

It's utterly shit, I'm not exaggerating when I say it's ruined my life. We can't afford to move to an area with better public transport, can't afford taxis, can't walk super far. DH has the patience of a saint but I have no independence. It's unbelievably depressing and there's no end in sight.

No, not really. I'm disabled, rarely leave the house. My car sits outside and every now and then I sit in it with the engine running for 30 minutes to keep the battery charged up. When I do need it, the battery is flat and I have to get the garage to jump start it.

At its last MOT in October, it passed. The garage owner asked if I knew how many miles I'd done in the past year. Not even 1k!

It costs me far more than taxi or bus fares would instead of it to sit outside. I should get rid, but I've had a car since I was 17 and I can't quite let go.

To start with I would not be able to do my current job as I am a domiciliary carer and we have to have a car and drive to and between clients. They do not hire carers without a car.
If I left the job and worked elsewhere and could commute on the bus or train that would be doable but it would be a bit of an inconvenience to go out of town at weekends and visiting family etc.

Whereas people who have never car have factored this into everything- where they live, the job they have.

Yes.

I drove a handful of times as a teen growing up in a city with good transport then moved to a major city where a car was a luxury and walking was the norm and transport was good. Moved to the UK and lived in a market town with a train to London and didn’t need a car either. Plus, it was quicker taking the train than driving due to the country roads. When we were looking at moving, my parameters were that I needed to live somewhere where a car wasn’t necessary because I wanted our children to be able to not depend on a car and be able to get from point A and point B without us and us not being put out if the car breaks down or if we fall on hard times where we have to sell the car, it isn’t an issue.

Moved to a commuter town where everything was in walking distance. A good percentage of people in our area are disabled and/or have mobility issues and that can easily be us without warning and they are able to get around. Nursery, schools, shops, gas station, buses to other towns and cities within 10 minutes walk, surgeries, dentists, two train stations and the town centre within 20 minutes walk and we’re surrounded by green spaces and play parks with sports ground.

I do like the spontaneity of having a car but I do live on a main bus route into the city centre 3 miles away and work 2 1/2 miles away but I don't want to be waiting for a bus home from work at 6.45pm or catching a bus at 7am to get into work for 7.45am. So although quite inconvenient if I had to I would but I'd like to have my free bus pass first because I don't want to pay the extortionate fare for such a short journey.

Wouldn't be able to work so couldn't pay bills. Would be dreadful

It would be a nightmare for me. Driving to work takes 35-50 mins depending on traffic, but would take about 3 hours each way by public transport! (Walk, bus, train, tube, train, walk.)

For various reasons I've decided not to get myself a car so frequently take the bus to work (I do have use of the car for some days)

I'd have to use the bus all week and would get used to it, would probably have to rely more on supermarket deliveries. I already frequently use the train rather than car though it takes forever rather than 30 mins to get to the train station

It's the random trips where there is no public transport that would have to change. It currently takes me two and a half hours on public transport to get to the hospital rather than 35 minute car journey

I live rurally and rely on my car for work. I would have to get a bus and x 3 trains for work if this happened.

I have a car but did have a gap for a few months when my old one sold and I didnt get around to searching for a new one.

I live on the outskirts of a medium sized city and public transport is excellent. I work about 5 miles away but im a cyclist and its actually a lovely journey (even in the rain). Work has showers/lockers etc

Children all walk to school, i have a lidl 10 mins walk away.

I wouldnt be affected too much if the car was removed.

I wouldn't be able to do my current job. I love it.

I wouldn't be able to do one of my jobs without great difficulty as it is supply and I only find out where I am going about an hour or so before I am supposed to be there. Getting public transport would be too much hassle.

I’ve recently lost my driving licence for the second time due to seizures caused by a brain tumour, which was removed three years ago.
I live on the outskirts of an urban area, where public transport is ok, not great. I manage because I have to. When I worked in a rural area I qualified for help under the Access to Work scheme which pays 75 per cent (I think) of taxi fare. Now I work only a mile or so from home and usually walk but I will catch the bus if one happens to be coming - I qualify for a disabled persons bus pass. I treated myself to a taxi on Tuesday when it was very wet and windy and I’d be sitting in damp clothes when I got to work.
I do a supermarket shop online and pick up bread, milk and anything we’ve run out of at Tesco Express.
I haven’t read the full thread but one poster said they’d rather be dead than lose their car. Really? I’d rather be alive and put up with the inconvenience of not being able to drive, frustrating though it is.

I meant to say, I’m hoping to retire to the Welsh coast in a year or two, where buses won’t be as good but there is a train station with frequent trains back to the Midlands for visiting family and friends, and Aberystwyth with a big range of shops is not far away and easily accessible by train.

As neighbours, we have agreed that if we didn't have cars, we wouldn't be able to live here. It's rural, and we all work within walking distance... but then it would be a pain for days out, hobbies, vet/GP/dental visits, visiting family further afield (i.e. different parts of the UK), livestock sales, etc. As we're miles out from town, if any of the neighbours are going, there's usually a group WhatsApp message of, "Does anyone want anything picking up while I'm in Tesco?" I already do a huge online grocery shop once a month, but the little top-up shops for fresh items/that thing that is always out of stock online would stop. The choice of takeaway is already very limited as we are too far out for most of them to deliver. I also wouldn't be able to go and help out with lambing on a friend's farm far away, wouldn't have been able to attend a job interview today, and so on.

We are lucky that there are buses sometimes, but the train station is in the nearest city, the local taxi rank (which serves a wide area) consists of one car, and our nearest airport is over the border in England. I could do the very unlikely thing of taking up cycling, but that doesn't seem very appealing after a 14-hour day in work, especially in winter.

It's bad enough when my car has to go for its MOT/to the garage, as it is easier to spend all day in town than getting the bus home and back again. I like the independence of having a car, and it's quicker, easier and probably would work out cheaper (in the long-run) than public transport for me. I suppose that a tractor and trailer would be more efficient at times (like when buying large furniture), but the permanent 25mph speed limit would drive me up the wall 😂

I lost mine due to epilepsy (for one year) 8 years ago. It was okay ish, I could get to work (bus 5 mins then a train for 10 mins). Going out in the local community was okay, actually, my friends did a lot of driving for me! I got a free bus pass and a 1/3 off trains. I live in London which probably made it easier.

I would find it hard. My job is quite rural and wouldn’t be accessible on public transport. Getting to the gym , visiting my parents and even school runs would be a challenge.

I’d hate to lose my freedom, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about recently.
When driving at night I find car headlights really bright and I’ve noticed that I’m not seeing the cyclists without lights and runners on the road, and it’s worried me. I’d hate to hurt someone because I’ve genuinely not seen them, and I know it would go down as driving without due care and attention. So I’m genuinely thinking of stopping driving in the dark, and I’m only in my 50’s.

I don't drive. I never got the hang of it. I live in London so it's never been a problem - I walk or get the bus/tube/train.

DH drives and if he didn't I suppose we'd have to switch to home deliveries for things we currently collect (such as cat litter and dog food).

It would take around 2 hours rather than 1 to get to my parents' in the home counties. We would need to take the train to visit my in laws up north - it doesn't take much longer but it costs more and we'd need to travel light. We enjoy trips to the Lake District, Cornwall, etc, as well as rural walks closer to home so we'd be more restricted in where we could go.

But no, living where we do, the day to day impact wouldn't be huge.

I see driving as a prison, we are sold the view of empty roads, but the reality is the opposite and people trapped in cars, trapped in queues of traffic and constant complaining about both.

I drive, but also get about using other modes of transport, which are all more pleasant than driving