You don't have to live in the deepest countryside to need a car!

System

If they don't use it when it isn't suitable and they don't use it when it is suitable then trying to get people to give up cars and use public transport IS a lost cause.

coldstreamalways

When I am on call I'm supposed to get into work within 2 hours. I have more chance of being made pregnant by a snowman in Tanzania that doing that using public transport. Having said that, when I work closer to home I cycle in. I think if you say people should move to where they can get to work without a car, you risk creating large areas of the country where you don't have certain specialists/trades etc because people would rather commute. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to live with my husband. The commute is worth it.

Humphrey10

!!!!!! wrote: »

That must have been said by somebody who lives in an area that has public transport more often than every 2 hours and only between 9AM and 6PM.

I would love to be in a position where I didn't need a car. I suppose that I could give up my job and live on benefit

No, it was said by someone unable to drive, as I said in my post. So you think I should just give up on life because I now cannot drive, as you say you would. I'm choosing not to give up because I cannot drive, I am just going to move nearer work. I fail to see why this isn't what everyone else would do in my position. Would some people really just give up and decide to live off the state (there is nothing wrong with claiming benefits if you need them, 'I can't be bothered to move to an area with jobs available' is not a good reason) they couldn't drive?

Ada_Doom

NEH wrote: »

We lived in a rental house where we were next to the village road, it was a nightmare with all the tractors and lorries thundering up and down at all times...just because we had a car doesn't mean that we didn't have a reason to complain....Some people don't always have a choice where you live, either that be financial constraints or in the case of rental properties they are few and far between...



You're very lucky to a)have jobs and b)have jobs so close to where you live and c)be able to afford the housing near where you work...

It's not about thinking more you just happen to have a set of circumstances that allows you the luxury to take public transport all the time and you're damn lucky that your public transport hasn't suffered cuts or that you've got public transport at all...

I know we are very lucky to have jobs, my husband has just got a part time job in a supermarket after being out of work for nearly a year, and yes, we do feel lucky.

We can only apply for jobs near where we work cos we dont drive and have such a small income that we cannot afford to travel far. We live in a small way compared with others, we dont earn much and we dont spend much. We live in the middle of a particulaly unlovely town and not in the countryside so that everything (schools shops etc) is in walking distance. When we want to go somewhere, or when invited to a wedding or something we don't worry about taking a few trains and buses to get to our destination, even though it can take a few hours. That is what I meant about having to think more! And yes, I feel lucky every day, but i know other who have way more that us that don't feel that way. I just have a different mind set, that counts my blessings

shirlgirl2004

I'd love to sell the car. In truth I can get to the nearest town by bus which is every 30 minutes. However my brother is in a nursing home 30 miles away. It would take about 2 hours to get to see him which would make for a 4 hour round trip. Unfortunately by the time I had dropped the children off at school and then got there it would be time to leave again. I visit him several times a week. We could move closer but it would meaning a change of school for the children. Given that he could die at any time or indeed still be here in 20 years it isn't something we will do in the short term. Some people have other commitments than get in the way of an idylic life.

I drive about 25,000 miles a year. Yes I wish it was less but I don't use the car to pop out only to do essential journeys where I often combine several tasks at once. The OH cycles to the station and catches a train to London. We can manage with one car but not without any car.

balletshoes

Ada_Doom wrote: »

This is spot on.We are a family of two adults who do not drive and never have and two snall children. People are amazed that we manage without a car but it is no problem for us as we have never known any difference. We walk the kids to school (local primary) and both work within walking distance of home. We have chosen to live this way. We don't feel the need to drive to out of town retail parks or take the kids on long drives to places to entertain them, but we are really good at getting around by public transport, which , as someone who uses it all the time, seems pretty good to me.

You have to think about your journey and plan a bit more without a car, and it seems to be convienence more than anything that keeps people wedded to owning thier own car. I agree that in the future more people will be carless and I look forward to it!

that would be my ideal i have to say - however, in my personal experience, my employer closed its location which was less than a mile from my home, and moved us all to the next town which is 8 miles away. i had the choice of being transferred into a city centre office 4 miles away, going to the new location, or losing my job. With a car, my 8 miles takes 10 minutes, meaning I can keep my pay and conditions the same as it was before. Without the car, I'd either have had no job at all or a job with reduced salary and hours with the same employer, as it takes 30 minutes by bus for that 4 miles journey into the city centre (or at least 45 minutes by bus for the 8 mile journey in the opposite direction).

I have no issue with anyone who says they don't need a car, or anyone who says they prefer having one. I like having one - always have, and I've had a car on the road for the last 20 years or so. Its still the most convenient method of transport for me, its still usually cheaper than public transport to where I want to go, and yes, we are trying to cut down on using the car or public transport a bit, as both are getting so expensive.

nickyhutch

Humphrey10 wrote: »

No, it was said by someone unable to drive, as I said in my post. So you think I should just give up on life because I now cannot drive, as you say you would. I'm choosing not to give up because I cannot drive, I am just going to move nearer work. I fail to see why this isn't what everyone else would do in my position. Would some people really just give up and decide to live off the state (there is nothing wrong with claiming benefits if you need them, 'I can't be bothered to move to an area with jobs available' is not a good reason) they couldn't drive?

Well, I wouldn't, because it would mean uprooting my son from the village he's lived in all his life, moving him miles from his friends and his school, and moving my DH even further away from his workplace and his side of the family. Bit selfish.

Gloomendoom

ceridwen wrote: »

Actually - I would agree with the employer on this - but point out that "2 miles" should equal the shortest walk possible (rather than "as the crow flies"). I would be surprised if they were interpreting 2 miles as being based on "as the crow flies"??

The criteria is that perfectly fit people who get in a car to drive a distance of less than 2 miles are doing so for selfish reasons - just because they WANT to. Those who drive 30 miles are (in the main) presumably doing so because they HAVE to (well - bar there being suitable public transport available that they could use - but choose not to).

THAT is the difference between these two distances - ie less than 2 miles/more than 2 miles. The basis for judgement is "Is the person coming by car because they WANT to or because they NEED to (ie as there is no other option)".

Society can no longer afford to cater for people travelling by car just because they WANT to - when they could perfectly well walk.

What happens if your wife/husband/partner works in a different town?

Do you split up?

Oldernotwiser

There's a big difference between someone who hasn't ever had access to a car and someone who's used to running one. If you don't have a car you organise your life around that fact.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I think the context of the original remark was that someone couldn't afford to keep up the repayments on her car on a salary of over £21,000 a year, so the suggestion was don't have a car then. The reply from someone else was that this was impossible because everybody needs a car if they have children or work. Well, no, because plenty of people don't use one but get up a bit earlier in the morning and do it all by public transport instead.

If it were an essential tool for employment, surely the first thing that would happen when someone signs on as unemployed would be that they were instantly given free driving lessons or it was made part of the National Curriculum?

It's nice to have a car. But it isn't essential - it's convenient.