Why Cars not bikes

Silaqui

I didn't drive when I was at uni, just relied on public transport and walking depending on where I was living at the time. This was in Nottingham.
I personally don't feel safe cycling on roads and in particular if you have big folders and files to lug about it's not really convenient.

I now work about a ten minute drive from my home and I do drive there, partially because I often carry lots of work backwards and forwards (schoolbooks and stuff, teacher) and secondly because it is just not appropriate to arrive at work sweaty and smelly.
I can imagine it is not comfortable to spend all day at uni like that either! I agree that were it is causing serious congestion there should be restrictions, but otherwise if people own cars then people are entitled to use them.

The environmental considerations apply to everyone not just students, and the governments/councils need to provide public transport as a viable option before people will stop using their cars.

NerveAgent

Hmmm

~15 minutes walk to the bus stop
~5-10 minutes wait
~45 minutes on crappy old bus, cramped, hot/cold
~15 minutes walk to relevant uni building

or

~20 minutes door to door with aircon, adjustable seats listening to music thats not coming from some chavs mobile phone.


As you can see it was a difficult choice for me when I was studying...

Money_saving_Martyn

I am a student and a car owner. I live close enough to uni to walk (30 mins - isn't bad in the summer!) but I find the car useful for shopping, days out etc. But that's my choice - and the car would be the first thing to go if I ever couldn't afford rent or food.

Cars are expensive, and a luxury for most people - not just students. Some students may well need the car to get to uni if they have a long commute - just the same as people who work.

On the other hand, some students don't always spend wisely, whether it be getting a nearly new car on finance for the 3 min drive to uni or binge drinking 3 times a week. Other students work a lot of/too many hours part time to pay for these luxuries. In my experience, the loan is enough to live off, if you work over the summer too.....

Whilst nobody can assume the personal situation of every student who drives and owns a car, the system of handing students £5k loans every year is open to abuse. I read a story in my local paper about a student who used her loan to pay for a breast enlargement op..... maybe we should get our rent paid directly to the landlord and food vouchers for sustenance !

Silaqui

You know what Martyn, that isn't a bad idea. I think I'd have preferred that (even if I had to pay it all back like a normal s-loan) that having to figure out how to budget a great big lump sum loan to pay out monthly rent payments and sometimes having to eat beans on toast for a week. At least that way you know that the basics are covered - you can get a job to fund the extras like a car/nights out/etc.
When I was there, (been graduated 3 years now) my loan wasn't enough to cover my rent, and it wasn't a particularly nice place either! I used to work all through term time and every holiday. I didn't have to work as much as I did to have lived a basic life, but I wanted a bit more luxury!

A car is also useful to some students who live a long way from home and have to vacate in the holidays. I had a friend who had a car but never used it as she lived across the road from uni. Her dad was insured on it with her as a second driver - she used it about 6 times a year for a journey from Nottingham to London and back!

[Deleted User]

I currently use public transport to go to university. But when I go back in a couple of years to study nursing I will drive because I will have to go to work placements starting as early as 7am in random parts of the county. Public transport wont start up early enough in the morning for me to get there in time. I can't ride a bike as I have a disability which effects my balance, and have just never been able to balance on a bike.

Silaqui

Even if you could though, drinkupretty, would you really want to have to bike ride for an hour at stupid o clock in the morning, arrive shattered, finish a 12 hour shift then have to do it all again the opposite way before you can sit down and have a cuppa?
I certainly wouldn't! My sister is a student nurse and she lives in accomodation right across the road from a big city hospital which is used for placements be people on her course. Her placement is a 45 minute drive away in another city!
x

[Deleted User]

Silaqui wrote: »

Even if you could though, drinkupretty, would you really want to have to bike ride for an hour at stupid o clock in the morning, arrive shattered, finish a 12 hour shift then have to do it all again the opposite way before you can sit down and have a cuppa?
I certainly wouldn't! My sister is a student nurse and she lives in accomodation right across the road from a big city hospital which is used for placements be people on her course. Her placement is a 45 minute drive away in another city!
x

Well no I wouldn't but if I could I might cycle to lectures it would save me a fortune. Although stories like this may put off a lot of students cycling to uni: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1033676_britains_unluckiest_cyclist perhaps if uni security was up to much more people might cycle without fear of having their bikes stolen. One person I know was even thrown off his bike by a thug who then stole it and rode off on it, I know another person who was threatened with a sledge hammer in an attempt to steal the bike, got to love Manchester! :rolleyes:

hunken

From a student point of view:

If you live near uni, it will be a student area, rent will be a lot higher. So why can't people just rent far away, cheaper, quieter to live and study, the standard is higher too, and use the spare money to pay for a car.

Also if people who live in the city or near university shouldn't have a car, how about when they need to go somewhere else, like placement, work, shopping. What are they suppose to use?

At the end of the day, it is people choice what to do with their money

Aspiring

Money_saving_Martyn wrote: »

---

Whilst nobody can assume the personal situation of every student who drives and owns a car, the system of handing students £5k loans every year is open to abuse. I read a story in my local paper about a student who used her loan to pay for a breast enlargement op..... maybe we should get our rent paid directly to the landlord and food vouchers for sustenance !

Surely, what people decide to spend their student loan on is their own business? After all, they are the one's responsible for repaying the loan.

So, rent paid to direct to the landlord? Food vouchers?

For goodness sake, we're talking 18+ aka "grown-ups", not children :rolleyes: Far better for them to learn how to budget and take responsibility for themselves. Everyone has to learn some time.

Or better still, have www.moneysavingexpert.com printed on their student ID

wrangler360

Money_saving_Martyn wrote: »

On the other hand, some students don't always spend wisely, whether it be getting a nearly new car on finance for the 3 min drive to uni or binge drinking 3 times a week. Other students work a lot of/too many hours part time to pay for these luxuries. In my experience, the loan is enough to live off, if you work over the summer too.....

Whilst nobody can assume the personal situation of every student who drives and owns a car, the system of handing students £5k loans every year is open to abuse. I read a story in my local paper about a student who used her loan to pay for a breast enlargement op..... maybe we should get our rent paid directly to the landlord and food vouchers for sustenance !

Some may not spend what you call wisely however every student pays back their own loan so it is really up to them what they do with the money.
Incidently rent paid to the landlord/food vouchers. I am going back to uni - have a mortgage and other bills so this would not work for me and would not be told how to spend my money.
This could and should never come into play uni is for 18+ students who are adults - they need to start learning how to cope with their money and not be treated like they are still living at home and the rent is just paid for them.