To think driving is very hyped up?

[Countbinface39]

I recently passed my test at almost 40. It took me 8 attempts, I'd had lessons on and off over the years and resigned myself to not driving. It was a relief to pass, not because I desperately needed to drive but because of the social pressure.
I am glad I have the option and don't have to do it again, I genuinely believed I wasn't cut out for driving.
There's a lot of hyperbole around driving which didn't help. I had people telling me I'd 'finally get my independence' when I passed. I own my own house, lived alone abroad for years, completely financially independent.
Also 'your life will finally start!' I'd like to think it started many years ago! I've never lived in very remote areas so luckily I wasn't heavily reliant on it, I never got lifts. I paid for ubers etc. But that's hardly the same as someone giving you a free lift!
I think a lot of people project their own experience onto you- they're maybe thinking of being 17 and relying on parents to get anywhere.
Driving has certainly given me more options, but it's hardly this magic carpet- still have to pay for the car, insurance, deal with dangerous drivers, parking, traffic etc- people always forget those things!
Someone even said my partner must 'have the upper hand' in our relationship because he had a car, which is ridiculous. People work as a team, you could apply that logic to anything, people who earn more, etc.
Anyway, rant over! I've got myself a cheap little runner that gets me from A to B, that's another thing some people comment on, if it's under 10k,15k, whatever it's going to fall apart the minute you get into it. More nonsense, i think the stress of being the only non-driver got to me, i felt like it was a very normal part of life I'd never get to do, but I'm glad I've got it.

If people riding on the pavement is an issue, then deal with people riding on the pavement. I've never come across a person on a bicycle I considered unfit to ride through drink. The anti-social riders on pavements were sober.

If people are selfish enough to ride on the pavement (and most of them seem to deem it the responsibility of the pedestrian to get out of their way) then allowing alcohol into the mix is a mistake.

And how do you suggest they are dealt with? I have got to the point that if they are coming towards me and expect me to move, I no longer do. I keep walking and make them move out of my way. It’s worth the mouthful of abuse.

Theee is a team of people with funny hats who are employed to enforce traffic laws. No need for new laws, just enforce the existing ones.

Some are keeping busy, at least:
www.northwales.police.uk/news/north-wales/news/news/2026/june/operation-targets-illegal-e-bikes-and-e-scooters-in-denbighshire/

No need for the snark. You clearly live somewhere that actually has police available - good for you. Around here they don’t deal with anything other than very serious crime.

In any case, without a visible presence, how are they going to catch them exactly?

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You really think there are teams of police out enforcing traffic laws??

Where do you live where this is the case? We certainly don't see them round here.

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its freedom to go where i want when i want - alone or with people

So what's the point of new laws for the police to not enforce, when drunken cycling is extremely rare?

DH got stopped drink cycling a few years ago.

They basically told him he had to push his bike home.

Some of the replies on this thread are incredibly defensive.
Over the weekend, me and the kids decided to go to the seaside for fish n chips and fresh donuts in the afternoon. I love being able to do things like that. They will remember that.
I do use public transport fairly regularly but I wouldn't be without a car.

Well that’s lovely. It’s not defensive at all but many on MN are clearly contemptuous of people who can’t drive, deeming them to have a lack of adult skills (and apparently being anti feminist)

I simply cannot imagine not being able to drive. It was the first thing I got sorted once I hit 17. When the time comes to stop I'll be devastated.
However, I've not known anything else. Maybe I'd feel differently if I lived somewhere with good transport links.

@Countbinface39 - I can see this from the other end of things - I got my driving licence in my 20s, but I have stopped driving about 18 months ago, mainly due to becoming disabled by long covid, and I really feel that I have lost my independence. I am reliant on dh to drive me anywhere - and he has to put my wheelchair or walker into the car and get them out at the other end. I hate it.

Fair enough - you will adapt though.

Fortunately post COVID, the world has moved far more online and there is far less need to travel to places. Even meeting friends has been transformed. Whilst I do travel for work, I have little need to go anywhere outside of that. It’s cheaper and it’s greener 🤷‍♀️

That sounds very isolating and wouldn't be for me.
Fortunately my world, and that of those around me, hasn't changed since covid. We have a beautiful country beyond our front doors and my car helps me and mine experience it.
Though again, we enjoy using public transport too. We use the coastliner fairly regularly.

I literally cannot do my job without a car, it would be near on impossible.

Plus I love driving. I cannot imagine losing that independence to go where I want and when I want.

It is anything BUT isolating - the whole world is available without screwing up the planet. You can meet up with friends, have access to all kinds of things. I do have to travel for work but trains usually do the trick

People talk about independence like it’s impossible without a car. Im completely independent without a car. It all depends on lifestyle and requirements.

Plus driving is still subject to delays, breakdowns etc and you have to pay obscene amounts of money for fuel, maintenance etc.

Whilst I do travel to other offices for work, I could probably get away without that if needed most of the time.

There are literally hundreds of places you can not access due to lack of a car. Or if you tried, you’d probably die trying. There are so many remote beauty spots that no buses or trains go to. And no. You can’t walk to them all. You are not independent at all. You are limited basically on the places you can go.

But I have no desire to actually go to these far flung places so it has zero impact on my life.

If I did then perhaps I would be gutted that I’m never likely to be able to drive but I didn’t even think of starting lessons until my 40s and then realised I was never going to be able to pass the practical test. So it was never really on my radar as my lifestyle doesn’t require it

@Anarchy99 could hire a car and driver/get an Uber, @nrsvje355.

I passed my test 20 years ago and every so often I think "I love being able to drive!". It's meant I've been able to say yes to opportunities and experiences I couldn't have taken otherwise. I can go pretty much wherever I want whenever I feel like it. Yes, there's insurance/tax/MOT etc, but it's all worth it to me.

By contrast, I often feel so thankful that I'll never have to drive

I so appreciate having the choice.

I've started to do the same. I always used to stand aside to let them pass or stand into the grass/shrubs/undergrowth on narrow footpaths, but now I don't anymore as the cyclists are often arrogant and show no consideration/respect. Same with joggers really. Just because joggers and cyclists go faster than someone walking doesn't give them automatic right of way. I never deliberately get in their way, but basically just carry on walking as I am, staying to the left of the path/walkway/pavement. If they want to get past, they can go into the grass/verge/undergrowth or can wait until the path is wide enough. I do the same with groups of walkers too, i.e. rambling groups, or even just large families, or groups of 2/3 walking side by side - they've no greater right of way than I have, so they can go into single file rather than expecting me to leap into the undergrowth to get out of their way!

Likewise had a licence for 45 years! It's opened up lots of opportunities, both work and social/hobbies that I couldn't have had without a car. My best job (in terms of pay, status, experience etc) was one I simply couldn't have accessed without a car as it wasn't on a bus route and the nearest train station was miles away. That job gave me so much in so many ways it literally changed my life. Same with social/hobbies - I couldn't have done the voluntary work where I met my DH had we both not been car drivers - doing that led to us being together for 39 years and counting - we'd never have got together other otherwise. Now, I barely drive as I work close enough to home to be able to walk each day, so we only take the car out a couple of times per week, so at the moment, it's not a deal breaker whether we drive or not, but it certainly improved our lives for the better over the past few decades.