to think being able to drive is KEY skill for a woman ( particularly)

[FolornHope]

or not

which I should add would be longer than a 5 second phonecall to order a taxi

I was talking about a 'one off' scenario, you are obviously meaning something completely different as in paying monthly/yearly. hence the misunderstanding. nevermind.

the point is there's many reasons to have a car. safety is a good one, convenience is another. getting a bus late at night is never ideal, esp if you are on your own, same with getting a taxi on a night out. having your car (and not drinking) means you can enjoy yourself with friends but make your own way home. it is much more convenient compared to public transport. I could argue the cost reason aswell, because it is extortionate to take a bus anywhere near where I live, also the train is the same and it's never on time....

If I lived in Germany however, I wouldn't use a car because the public transport runs like clockwork (unlike the UK where is it utterly crap) there's never a late train or a late bus, everything is very efficient over there. How public transport SHOULD be.

if you live in a city where everything you need is in walking distance, then managing without a car is greatly easier.

The reason car ownership is so high in the UK is because it really is greatly more convenient to get about by car in most places. I bought my first car because i was on a changing shift pattern at a place that was 2.5 hours train ride away (one way) - with trains that wouldn't get me to work on time before 7am, or allow me to leave after 10pm. The drive was 45 mins on the other hand...

i agree with passing early - people that try to arrange lessons later in life have such probems arranging it round work/kids/ affording the money! And you don't forget once learned - you don't have to keep driving to retain the knowledge (so don't need car etc as well).

will definitely have DCs learning to drive when 17 - it has been so useful, made jobs possible i wouldn't have been able to do, and getting around with two small DCs much more manageable. adding them as named driver to a policy is less expensive than own car (which they can pay for themselves if they want that...)

agree London is a crap place to drive in though. Abroad was where i needed to drive least, as had 9-5 job and easy bus ride...and when backpacking, plentiful time...

I agree about the thing with shiftwork, having a car is definately essential. I used to struggle to get buses to work and it was hellish, what a nightmare. Was so glad to pass driving test, meant I didn't have to get two buses or stand in the freezing cold, or the rain at ridiculous times of the morning or evening.

I rarely drive but feel relieved that I can if I need to. For ages I couldn't and it did make me feel crap.

I hardly ever need to drive in Norwich, though I must say, the number 9 to Lakenham is very unreliable. If I was going there I would walk.

yes a one off scenario you still need to sort insurance, that's still going to involve a phonecall as well as findind a neighbour whose car you could borrow (or waiting for a friend to come in their car for you to drive it).

I used to work nights, admittedly quite local so I walked there and back. But I did consider a job in the next town which would have involved the 8pm bus, and walking.

I would do the same now.

Nothing wrong with a taxi - especially on a night out - where you'd either not have to drink, or be very stupid to drive after drinking. I have the taxi number in my phone so I call for one before leaving a bar, they do a "ring back" thing when the taxi is waiting outside (at anytime of day actually) so then I walk out and straight into the taxi - which takes me to my front door. No need to go wandering around to find where I've parked the car (presuming I've not been drinking)

Honestly - it's REALLY not a big deal, I don't miss out on anything not being able to drive. I don't go asking for lifts off people, and I don't expect people to offer either.

And I tell you one thing that's great when I do a big shop and get a taxi home. They put all the shopping in the car for me and they carry it to the front door for me when we reach my house. I don't have to go dragging it from the car to the house on my own (DH then takes it from the front door to the kitchen )

Asking how you got to the hospital when you were in labour is pretty stupid if you're trying to make a point about how essential driving is, lovechoc.

If you're in advanced labour, you're hardly going to be in a fit state to drive anyway.

And, if you aren't, then you can get there in a taxi, or a bus, if there's one which goes to the hospital.

I'm quite sure you're not suggesting that labouring women are only 'allowed' to be driven to the hospital by their partner if they already have a driving licence. Are you?

And, unless I'm missing something, plenty of drivers get taxis home after a night out as well.

Folorn, PCs aren't essential but they're useful and convenient. Just like cars in fact.

I'm not some militant anti car-ite or eco freak by any stretch of the imagination but this thread makes me want to go and live in an organic yurt and wear woolly underwear.

Well, nearly. I'd miss my PC.

ooooooo now I couldn't live without my PC - I would prefer to get a drivers license just to keep people quite than not have my PC

and I think the wooly underwear would be quite useful right now as it's bloody freezing LOL.

Awassailing. I was thinking about the uncomfortable scratchy sort!

hmmmm good point - think I'll stick with my cottons

It's not a key life skill in London.....but is now I have a child...so will have to learn.

financial management IS taugth at school

when were you last in one Quatt?

1985. Glad things are changing. My DCs don't seem to be picking up any skills in that arena though ...

so is cooking

Oh yes, cookery lessons. I do remember having those. They didn't bear any resemblence to cooking though, did they? I think I learned to make a Victoria Sponge. And chocolate crispy cakes. Both of which are loathsome ... Didn't learn to cook until university.

I cooked in my cokkery lessons. I might not have liked all the things we cooked, but it was most definitely cooking.

dd1 has cookery lessons. She makes the basics: stir fry, pasta dish, sponge cake, truffles at chrsitmas, pizza. All seems good enough to me.

Many students take cookery exams where they make and present all sorts of fancy stuff.

Schools teach sex education, personal safety, cycling proficiency, swimming, how to manage behaviour and relationships, resilience programmes, personal finance, enterprise, citizenship.

jeez, which key life skills aren't taught at school

oh yeah, driving

Fine to live in a city and not drive.

But how do you get around on a countryside holiday or go to, say, a wedding in a rural location. You limit your experiences by not driving.

I cannot imagine being a mother of more than one child and not driving. The sheer inconvenience of herding children around on unreliable public transport in miserable weather is enough to put me off.

blue shoes - believe it or not - both of things are actually possible (without cadging a lift off someone else) with a car.

You just have to broaden your mind a little

Most definitely possible. But why bother when you can learn to drive instead, in comfort and ease. Saves time too, which you can spend on other more worthwhile things.

I thought I'd got my family holiday to Lochgilphead area sorted to compare between public transport/bikes and car.

But I realised I have NO idea how much petrol would cost for approx 1000 miles of driving

Got all the other figures - bar the bus cost from Lochgilphead to Glasgow

well I can tell you that the "trip" I've worked out takes no longer on public transport than it does in the car (unless you're like my father who would insist on driving that sort of distance without a break )

YABU I don't drive and never intend too, I get around perfectly fine with limited public transport and I living in a semi rural location.