If you choose not to drive you are a pain in the arse

[Ophir]

Always lifts, always expecting basically chauffeured

Blimey 66 is still working age. I will be driving until I can!

YABU to generalize about people who don't drive when it's clearly one person you know who is taking the piss.
Tell them you can't give them lifts any more and that they'll need to make other arrangements.
If they live in a city then there's little need to drive.
If they live rurally with poor public transport and no taxis then they have to learn to drive a car and if they can't do that for health reasons or costs then they'll need to move to somewhere more suitable.

Dh and dd drive. I dont. I bike 9 miles a day for work come rain or shine. Wouldn't think to ask for a lift. More than happy to use public transport.

We need more people that don’t drive. I live in a very walkable area with great transport links and we have neighbours who are empty nesters with two cars each.

I literally will walk for miles rather than ask for a lift, if I cant get there under my own steam I dont go

As I’ve said before, only on Mumsnet is giving a lift considered as on a par with donating a kidney.

Well, that’s a bit daft if someone else is going in a car…

Lots of posters still spectacularly missing the point.

I found it mildly frustrating with young children in the car seat stage when friends with kids would want to meet up in the holidays as a group but options were incredibly limited because one person didn't drive and she lives in a village in the middle of rural nowhere. Meeting up at her house was also not given as an option! When everyone had young children all in car seats, giving lifts got much more complicated. I just love the freedom of having a car and do think it's pretty necessary in a rural area. When I lived in a very big city in my early 20s it didn't matter.

I agree, I know someone who fits this to a T.

Still wont ask, not their fault I dont drive, im very stubborn though 🤣 wont even ask my husband for a lift

It's this, it's not even direct requests they'll be able to say well I don't ask for lifts. No you don't but you pull a sad face and talk about how you'll have to get a bus then a train then walk to get to the place everyone wants to go, or while we're out how long it took to get there and how long it'll take to get home. Or ask for us to go to the same place we always go because it's easy for you to get to by bus when everyone else is sick of it.

It is also a really ignorant misconception that people who drive cars never use public transport or walk anywhere.

I understand that public transport is non existent or woefully inadequate in a lot of places. And I vehemently wish improving public transport was a priority for politicians.

But as a non car owner I have always made access to public transport the non negotiable factor when i've been looking for somewhere to buy a house. My current house is a five minute walk from a train station and a two minute walk from the bus stop. And I'm lucky enough to also be a few minutes walk away from a beach so it's not that I've had to chose an uncongenenial location just for the transport provision.

So I would never have chosen to live somewhere with no public transport as you do.

@RampantIvy

I do wish that the smug "I don't drive, I just use public transport" posters could be a little more understanding of people who live in more rural areas and who don't have the luxury of frequent public transport or readily available taxis.

But they are being told they are terrible and selfish for not driving, even though they are not inconveniencing anyone. Of course they're a bit defensive!

If you don't want to drive, don't choose to live rurally. Your DH should not have made that decision.

Anyone smug about "environment" is annoying, anyway.

They are so pious, so intelligent and sanctimonious despite being completely ignorant about the "environment" i.e. recycling, emissions etc.

I always find that people who have strong opinions about the "environment" are the type of people who think that what they preach about applies to everyone but themselves.

They seem to live their lives through the stats provided by the BBC or DailyMail.

It's vomit inducing.

Nope. I use public transport. That’s pretty regular. I live near a city. I never expect my partner to drive me anywhere. I can walk quite far too. When we are out and about we do days out and nights out via public transport or walking so he can have a pint or two. We live near a shop and we get ocado deliveries. I walk to work (40 mins) or get a bus. He picks me up as it’s late and doesn’t want me doing that at 8/9pm but i did pre meeting him years ago. Holidays we do a mix of trains/buses/trams or airport hotel.

I would be a terrible driver due to road anxiety and peri menopause has made it worse. I close my eyes in panic regularly as a passenger due to how other people drive( not the car i’m in in) so that wouldn’t be fun in charge of a vehicle!

It's amazing how many don't, though.
Or perhaps just the people I know! I can only think of one person who uses public transport or walks more than 15 mins but also drives. We both used to live in London so I thought it was just a different mindset from that time!

You are talking about 'owning a car' not the ability to drive. Different things.

I do both. If my journey is a mile or so I walk, a trip into the town centre - bus. Off the bus route, carrying something heavy or going to several.locations on one trip - the car

I totally agree. I work part time and during last week's lovely weather DH and I went for long walk every afternoon. I also regularly travel by train, which I prefer to driving.

However, most places I want to go to aren't on public transport routes from our village.

We went out for the day on Friday. It was just over an hour by car to get there. To get there with public transport would involve three trains and a bus and take three and a half hours.

To be fair, we chose to live where we do because we have a car (we both drove at the time). If neither of us drove we would live somewhere with better public transport.

If that is a dig at me then I don't think you read my post that you quoted.

My comment about driving less was directed to those who drive everywhere.

I'm very aware that some car owners also use public transport, walk and cycle. My own son is one of these. He uses his car when it is necessary to do so but actually prefers to use public transport or walk if that is convenient to do so and always commutes to work by bus and on foot. His job is actually in transport planning.

Oh give over! What a stupid generalisation.
I think car drivers who get in their cars to drop their kids at school even though they live a five minute walk away and people who get in their cars to go to the shops a two minute walk at the top of the road (yes I’m looking at you neighbour) a pain in the arse.
More people should walk/use public transport etc if they can.

That’s quite the generalisation. Someone specific is obviously annoying you. Not every non-driver is a piss taker.

Why is anxiety over driving still not tolerated and looked down on? It seems to be the one area people think is still a free for all to shame people on.

I passed my test but am not a good driver so I don't drive - you cant win, there are threads complaining about bad drivers on the road and threads complaining about people who dont drive.

I am a sahm and pretty much all of my outings I have children with me so even if i wanted lifts I couldn't because most people wouldnt have car seats. I manage fine with buses and trains, yes journeys take longer but that's just how it is