The days of living, working, and shopping all within a couple of miles is long gone for many people - so they bought cars to overcome the problem - is it their fault?
I have no issue with car drivers, each to their own... I do however have a (slight) issue with people insinuating, or just straight out saying, that me and my kids are somehow missing out because I don't drive.
Most of the things that people have brought up on this thread - difficulty with camping trips, no trips to the seaside, being restricted to activities within 2 or 3 miles of home - are all problems that I have never encountered in my 25 car-free years.
Some people choose to drive, some people choose not to... There's nothing wrong with either choice.
pain in the behind when the stuff doesn't turn up though - as recently happened to me (Yodel lost the order somewhere). I don't rely on it for anything critical.
But that's a choice that you make and isn't necessarily relevant to whether you drive or not... Most people I know (drivers and non-drivers) do online shopping and that's because they find shopping boring and time-consuming, nothing to do with having a car or not.
I take issue with this - I don't want to be locked into a couple of miles of a bus stop.
That's your choice. Others are happy to make other choices.
IYou could use a taxi, if you can get one when you want one, and provided you have a stack of cash on you - they are very expensive, £20 to go 8miles around here, and that was without stopping for traffic etc.
On the other hand you can save a lot of money by not having a car - this could easily pay for the occasional taxi trip.
My brother and sister aged 46 and 48 have never learnt to drive. It's not a financial thing. I've asked them both why and they both say they've just never got round to it. Love them both to bits but still can't fathom why they would not want the freedom of just being able to get into a car and drive where they want to go.
Is it just me or do you agree that in the 21st century being an adult and not driving is unusual? Anyone else out there who doesn't drive and if so why?
I'm in my 50s and don't drive - my partner does, though. I spent most of my life in a bog city (Manchester and then London) where driving wasn't needed. When I went to work in the sticks, my co-workers couldn't understand that I didn't drive or have a car - I was the only one out of 30 people there who didn't drive.
Getting on a bus is enough for getting around in my case. The places I want to go to or need to be at I can get to via bus and I have a bus pass anyway.
This is my Mum's reason for not learning to drive. She's been lucky to live close to her last three workplaces to be able to walk there and back, and it's the same for her kids' schools too in order to do the school run. She didn't go out too much apart from those two reasons. Now that her kids are all grown, we all drive and so does her husband/my dad, but she's more than happy to rely on a decent network of buses and train routes to get her where she needs to go.
I'm 24 and only passed a couple years ago, so i guess that could be considered late. Basically i just done it for the sake of doing it. I don't really use the car that often. My dad knows how to drive for as long as i remember and my mum never really got around to it.
My brother and sister aged 46 and 48 have never learnt to drive. It's not a financial thing. I've asked them both why and they both say they've just never got round to it. Love them both to bits but still can't fathom why they would not want the freedom of just being able to get into a car and drive where they want to go.
Is it just me or do you agree that in the 21st century being an adult and not driving is unusual? Anyone else out there who doesn't drive and if so why?
Failed 3 tests.
Can't afford to learn now, & even if I did & passed I can't afford to run a car on my salary.
I live in a heavily populated area with LOADS of public transport at all times so I don't need to drive.
The smugness & patronizing tone of car drivers sometimes is an irritant.
Guess what?? I WALK more than the average car driver & Im not polluting the planet with my car fumes.
i wonder how u would cope if you lived somewhere with no bus links and no trains and the nearest shops were 2miles away, and nearest employment was 5miles away and the schools also 4miles away. hospital 20miles away.
u might change your opinion
i wonder how u would cope if you lived somewhere with no bus links and no trains and the nearest shops were 2miles away, and nearest employment was 5miles away and the schools also 4miles away. hospital 20miles away.
u might change your opinion
Not everyone is capable of learning to drive are they.
I'm 29 and don't drive. I have a provisional licence and keep intending to take lessons but then... don't.
I guess I'm just super nervous. I'm an anxious passenger and I don't really relish being in a car. I'm always grabbing hold of the door and the side of the seat lol. Thankfully my partner has gotten used to it But I always think someone is going to smash into us or that the car won't turn properly and we'll go over the side of a bridge or something stupid. Every now and then I give myself a pep talk and look up instructors in the area and decide to call them first thing in the morning but then just wimp out again. It's ridiculous really, things would be a ton easier for me if I did drive. Maybe one day.
Guess what?? I WALK more than the average car driver & Im not polluting the planet with my car fumes.
You can't walk everywhere. While buses can actually pollute more than cars.
Try buying 10 heavy bags of sand andcement, and a pile of paving slabs from B&Q, and taking them home on the bus! It took all my energy just to push the flat-bed trolley across the car-park. (I did actually ask the check-out girl where the nearest bus-stop was, as I was buying that lot, and she took me seriously!)
Gone are they days of waiting ages for a bus too. With bus checker apps you know exactly when your bus is arriving. This is the case in London anyway, I don't know about anywhere else.
Not everyone is capable of learning to drive are they.
true but that doesnt change their situation. even where i live with some buses i know people who have no chance of learning to drive and a few people over 30 who never bothered. they dont go far from home - ever. even basic stuff which around needs a car or taxi, such as going out for a meal, at least beyond the rat hole down the road is beyond them. one says "never heard of it, where is it?" i say, only 12miles over the hill, he says "no good to me-might as well b the dark side of the moon". i couldnt live like that, bit like being in a cage.
once i get a few family matters sorted i intend to use the car to the max again.
Gone are they days of waiting ages for a bus too. With bus checker apps you know exactly when your bus is arriving. This is the case in London anyway, I don't know about anywhere else.
nope, nothing like it round here. not everyone has a smart phone either, and some of us have shockingly bad smart phones. bet £10 my htc wouldnt be able to manage it.
nope, nothing like it round here. not everyone has a smart phone either, and some of us have shockingly bad smart phones. bet £10 my htc wouldnt be able to manage it.
You don't need a smart phone, you can use the service on a PC as well but if you don't have the facility in the first place then that's moot.
true but that doesnt change their situation. even where i live with some buses i know people who have no chance of learning to drive and a few people over 30 who never bothered. they dont go far from home - ever. even basic stuff which around needs a car or taxi, such as going out for a meal, at least beyond the rat hole down the road is beyond them. one says "never heard of it, where is it?" i say, only 12miles over the hill, he says "no good to me-might as well b the dark side of the moon". i couldnt live like that, bit like being in a cage.
once i get a few family matters sorted i intend to use the car to the max again.
I am 40 and not every took a lesson,as I know I would not pass the test.
all very nice for the few people that want to hike miles and miles, but it doesnt represent most of the population.
its like saying human beings commit murder. no, a few do but most dont.
So those who aren't happy to do so can choose to drive... Those of us who are happy to walk and hike for miles can choose not to drive.
Why do you have such an issue with people choosing not to drive? It doesn't hurt you and the majority of people who have chosen not to drive are perfectly happy with what that decision means for how thy get around.
just saying that outside of DS (seems to b a very high % of non drivers on here, a bigger % than in real life imo) that most people dont want to walk miles. sure a few do, but i dont think out of say 1000 people, u would find over 500 happy to walk miles and miles. i bet it would b way less than half.
just saying that outside of DS (seems to b a very high % of non drivers on here, a bigger % than in real life imo) that most people dont want to walk miles. sure a few do, but i dont think out of say 1000 people, u would find over 500 happy to walk miles and miles. i bet it would b way less than half.
Depends on where you're asking...
My best friend has given her car to her boyfriend and now walks the 4.3 miles each-way to/from work everyday because she was fed up of traffic and of having difficulty finding somewhere to park.
In areas where driving is a chore you'll find more people wanting to walk than you would in areas where driving is quick & easy.
Comments
I have no issue with car drivers, each to their own... I do however have a (slight) issue with people insinuating, or just straight out saying, that me and my kids are somehow missing out because I don't drive.
Most of the things that people have brought up on this thread - difficulty with camping trips, no trips to the seaside, being restricted to activities within 2 or 3 miles of home - are all problems that I have never encountered in my 25 car-free years.
Some people choose to drive, some people choose not to... There's nothing wrong with either choice.
But that's a choice that you make and isn't necessarily relevant to whether you drive or not... Most people I know (drivers and non-drivers) do online shopping and that's because they find shopping boring and time-consuming, nothing to do with having a car or not.
On the other hand you can save a lot of money by not having a car - this could easily pay for the occasional taxi trip.
I'm in my 50s and don't drive - my partner does, though. I spent most of my life in a bog city (Manchester and then London) where driving wasn't needed. When I went to work in the sticks, my co-workers couldn't understand that I didn't drive or have a car - I was the only one out of 30 people there who didn't drive.
Failed 3 tests.
Can't afford to learn now, & even if I did & passed I can't afford to run a car on my salary.
I live in a heavily populated area with LOADS of public transport at all times so I don't need to drive.
The smugness & patronizing tone of car drivers sometimes is an irritant.
Guess what?? I WALK more than the average car driver & Im not polluting the planet with my car fumes.
u might change your opinion
Not everyone is capable of learning to drive are they.
The number of people killed in road accidents every day in the UK is 252.
Don't drive if you want to live a longer life.
I guess I'm just super nervous. I'm an anxious passenger and I don't really relish being in a car. I'm always grabbing hold of the door and the side of the seat lol. Thankfully my partner has gotten used to it
You can't walk everywhere. While buses can actually pollute more than cars.
Try buying 10 heavy bags of sand andcement, and a pile of paving slabs from B&Q, and taking them home on the bus! It took all my energy just to push the flat-bed trolley across the car-park. (I did actually ask the check-out girl where the nearest bus-stop was, as I was buying that lot, and she took me seriously!)
It's not. I don't know the exact figure, but it's something like 10 per day.
true but that doesnt change their situation. even where i live with some buses i know people who have no chance of learning to drive and a few people over 30 who never bothered. they dont go far from home - ever. even basic stuff which around needs a car or taxi, such as going out for a meal, at least beyond the rat hole down the road is beyond them. one says "never heard of it, where is it?" i say, only 12miles over the hill, he says "no good to me-might as well b the dark side of the moon". i couldnt live like that, bit like being in a cage.
once i get a few family matters sorted i intend to use the car to the max again.
nope, nothing like it round here. not everyone has a smart phone either, and some of us have shockingly bad smart phones. bet £10 my htc wouldnt be able to manage it.
You don't need a smart phone, you can use the service on a PC as well but if you don't have the facility in the first place then that's moot.
I am 40 and not every took a lesson,as I know I would not pass the test.
That would depend on your definition of camping.
Set the tent up in one location, then hike somewhere and back each day.
Or pack up the tent in the mornings and set it up somewhere different each night.
People successfully manage to walk the Pennine way in the UK (268 miles).
People even manage to hike places like the Appalachian Trail in America (2,200 miles long) without resorting to using cars.
its like saying human beings commit murder. no, a few do but most dont.
Not even just that, it's available by text too.
So those who aren't happy to do so can choose to drive... Those of us who are happy to walk and hike for miles can choose not to drive.
Why do you have such an issue with people choosing not to drive? It doesn't hurt you and the majority of people who have chosen not to drive are perfectly happy with what that decision means for how thy get around.
Depends on where you're asking...
My best friend has given her car to her boyfriend and now walks the 4.3 miles each-way to/from work everyday because she was fed up of traffic and of having difficulty finding somewhere to park.
In areas where driving is a chore you'll find more people wanting to walk than you would in areas where driving is quick & easy.
Possibly some of those were cadging a lift as non-driving passengers.