Your partner doesn't drive, does it bother you?

maman

Personally I think that driving is a life skill in today's world. I both drive and use public transport. Buses for getting round the city, trains for going into London where a car is a waste of time and money and my car for driving in the countryside or further afield where public transport links are time consuming and complex of they exist at all.

I learned to drive as soon as I was 17 and my DD1 did exactly the same. DD2 did one test, failed and gave up. She lives in a small town so can get to most places walking but she does seem to accept lots of lifts from friends. I can see that it has restricted where she can work and so what sort of jobs she goes for. I think it's given her a small town mentality and restricted her independence. One thing I do envy is the fact that she's never 'designated driver';).

Peter333

barbarawright wrote: »

You may love your delightful little village but it would, quite honestly, be my idea of hell. No cinemas, museums theatres etc etc within easy access. As for buses to shops -why would I want to do that when I live 5 minutes walk from a busy high street?

And let's not even mention environmental concerns

Yes because it's such a massive hassle to drive 10 minutes to the town. :rotfl:

Shockingly, the town 4 miles away has cinema, theatre, museum, bus station with buses to about half a dozen main towns, as well as banks and main shops and hairdressers and restaurants and half a dozen pubs and so on and so on... I thought that would have been obvious. The only ones who WOULD be likely to find it a living hell (living in a rural village) would be people who can't drive... :rotfl:

As Buzzy says

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

That sounds like my idea of hell. (living 5 minutes walk from a high street...)

It would also be MY idea of hell to be on a main high street. I have lived in that kind of area before; revellers, drunks, chavs, noise, pubs rolling out at all hours, crowds of people hanging around, vomit on the street, rubbish strewn everywhere, joyriders screeching up and down the street, noise til 3am, more risk of crime, the stink of various takeaways, the nightmare list goes on...

You may have the SHOPS in your high street that are convenient for you, but anywhere else you want to go is a boring and tedious chore, plodding around on public transport. I bet you don't WORK on the high street...

So you and other non-drivers can cosy up in your noisy high street abode and wait in the cold and wet for your 2 hour bus trip that takes 10 minutes in a car, and I shall snuggle down to a pint of beer in my cosy village pub with my village friends, and then go back to the dead silence in my beautiful detached village house with the woodland backdrop and the river 10 minutes walk away. With my car in the garage keeping snug and warm too.

maman wrote: »

Personally I think that driving is a life skill in today's world. I both drive and use public transport. Buses for getting round the city, trains for going into London where a car is a waste of time and money and my car for driving in the countryside or further afield where public transport links are time consuming and complex of they exist at all.

I learned to drive as soon as I was 17 and my DD1 did exactly the same. DD2 did one test, failed and gave up. She lives in a small town so can get to most places walking but she does seem to accept lots of lifts from friends. I can see that it has restricted where she can work and so what sort of jobs she goes for. I think it's given her a small town mentality and restricted her independence. One thing I do envy is the fact that she's never 'designated driver';).

It definitely is a life skill, and it's bizarre to deny it. You are seriously restricting yourself in life if you cannot drive. You become dependant and stunted and need other people waaaay more than when you can drive. It will also affect your employment opportunities for sure. I can't believe people are denying this.

I think people who can't drive/can't be bothered/can't afford it are massively in denial. Why on EARTH would you use unreliable and dirty and smelly public transport that takes 5 to 10 times longer when you can have the luxury and speed of the car?

Oh yes the environment! :rotfl: I love how people make it about that, when most cars are environmentally friendly anyway. I actually have a Toyota Prius! Sorry to disappoint you car-haters!

People are living near high streets and near public transport because they HAVE to because they can't drive. How horrible to be restricted in the places where you can live like that just because you can't drive... And how wonderful to be able to choose ANYwhere, no matter where it is, because YOU. CAN. DRIVE! :D:D

Gloomendoom

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

That sounds like my idea of hell.

And mine.......

Piggywiggy

Someone could be the perfect partner for me but if they can't drive it's a big no no. Me and my OH share driving between us I wouldn't want to drive all of the time it's not fair.

duchy

Insular village life (aka goldfish bowl living) with no facilities -and the potential that if you can't drive for some reason like accident or ill health you are left isolated or completely dependant on the good will of others will suit some people - but the snobbish attitude that all towns are full of revellers and chavs is as daft as insisting all villages are crime free and friendly -both are massive generalizations.

I'm not sure why the "you can't survive without a car" fraternity are so defensive- No-one is saying driving is evil (no Greens popped up on here yet) simply that a car isn't as vital as many car-centric people think- and many people don't see it as an essential and manage to live, shop, work and even travel the country without one.

When my son was a baby I lived ten minutes walk into town - I used to enjoy walking in , shoving all the shopping into the tray under his pram/buggy and walking home -it was quicker and easier than parking in a multi-storey -getting baby out of the car seat and into the buggy - walk round the shops then unloading him and shopping into the car -and driving home and paying for the "convinience" of doing so - yet I had friends who lived the same distance who thought I was mad to do so....... Guess who lost all their baby fat first though ?

Even now I'll often jump on a bus into the next town -it's just as quick (arguably quicker as I don't need to play hunt the parking space) and if I bump into a friend and go for a coffee I'm not sitting there worrying about my parking expiring and getting a ticket.

Cars have their place but they aren't as essential as some people claim as amny people who had to stop driving for a variety of reasons have discovered.

Peter you are protesting far too much. No-one has claimed to hate cars- but your vilification of those who choose an alternative to your fixed ideas is a little bizarre !

GlasweJen

I can't drive, the DVLA revoked my license on health grounds.

I'm from a rural village that has a church and no shops, I can get home to my mums with not too much bother though it is faster to drive.

I currently live in the city, can't use the subway as most of it isn't wheelchair accessible and a lot of train stations aren't great (there's been a lift out of order at partick for months) so it's a train for some places or buses for others and it isn't that bad.

My other half hates public transport but is learning that it's easier to get a bus to the botanic gardens than it is to drive and try to get a parking space.

missbiggles1

Peter333 wrote: »

Yes because it's such a massive hassle to drive 10 minutes to the town. :rotfl:

Shockingly, the town 4 miles away has cinema, theatre, museum, bus station with buses to about half a dozen main towns, as well as banks and main shops and hairdressers and restaurants and half a dozen pubs and so on and so on... I thought that would have been obvious. The only ones who WOULD be likely to find it a living hell (living in a rural village) would be people who can't drive... :rotfl:

As Buzzy says



It would also be MY idea of hell to be on a main high street. I have lived in that kind of area before; revellers, drunks, chavs, noise, pubs rolling out at all hours, crowds of people hanging around, vomit on the street, rubbish strewn everywhere, joyriders screeching up and down the street, noise til 3am, more risk of crime, the stink of various takeaways, the nightmare list goes on...

You may have the SHOPS in your high street that are convenient for you, but anywhere else you want to go is a boring and tedious chore, plodding around on public transport. I bet you don't WORK on the high street...

So you and other non-drivers can cosy up in your noisy high street abode and wait in the cold and wet for your 2 hour bus trip that takes 10 minutes in a car, and I shall snuggle down to a pint of beer in my cosy village pub with my village friends, and then go back to the dead silence in my beautiful detached village house with the woodland backdrop and the river 10 minutes walk away. With my car in the garage keeping snug and warm too.



It definitely is a life skill, and it's bizarre to deny it. You are seriously restricting yourself in life if you cannot drive. You become dependant and stunted and need other people waaaay more than when you can drive. It will also affect your employment opportunities for sure. I can't believe people are denying this.

I think people who can't drive/can't be bothered/can't afford it are massively in denial. Why on EARTH would you use unreliable and dirty and smelly public transport that takes 5 to 10 times longer when you can have the luxury and speed of the car?

Oh yes the environment! :rotfl: I love how people make it about that, when most cars are environmentally friendly anyway. I actually have a Toyota Prius! Sorry to disappoint you car-haters!

People are living near high streets and near public transport because they HAVE to because they can't drive. How horrible to be restricted in the places where you can live like that just because you can't drive... And how wonderful to be able to choose ANYwhere, no matter where it is, because YOU. CAN. DRIVE! :D:D

Not particularly rural if you live only 4 miles from a decent sized town - that's what most people would describe as suburban with pretensions!

no1catman

I live in a City, I passed my Test - at the third attempt when I was about 20; but didn't get a car till I was about 53 - on my third car now! Didn't feel I needed to, could borrow my Father's car for evenings out, then when I bought my first house, I couldn't afford one and it was easy to walk to work, shopping near-by, and to the City Centre at night.
When, Partner doesn't drive - no problem, initially long distance - coach or train travel. Likewise, a few of our holidays have been by Coach or Train - no problem.


The only 'problem' has been other people - who have two or more cars in their household, can't grasp that you can't do something because you're needed (with car) for something, whereas they could - their Partner could do the shopping for example.


And Rural life? No thanks, amazed on Escape to the Country people going to places with a pub, church, and the village shop!
Where's the Doctor, Dentist, Hospital, Supermarkets!?

KxMx

I'm not a driver through lack of means (and it's not as simple as paying £300 for a car- there's lessons, tests, petrol, tax, MOT/Repairs, Insurance and parking, car running costs on the debtfreewannabee board are eye opening!).. I have to say if I did have means I would totally drive and have a car life would be so much easier. And maybe I can't understand those that can afford it choosing not to. But each to their own and while I would prefer to drive life is survivable without it.

minerva_windsong

barbarawright wrote: »

You may love your delightful little village but it would, quite honestly, be my idea of hell. No cinemas, museums theatres etc etc within easy access. As for buses to shops -why would I want to do that when I live 5 minutes walk from a busy high street?

And let's not even mention environmental concerns

Me too. I grew up in a place like that (nearest proper town 10 miles away) and I hated it; I just found it incredibly boring because there was nothing to do. That might just be an age thing and I might feel differently in 10 or 20 years, but for now being out in the sticks for too long would drive me to distraction. It probably helps that I now live in a city with very frequent public transport though.


That said, I do think driving is an important life skill, even if I see no reason to own a car at this point in time. So the plan now is to start saving for lessons...