Carless

[Thurston]

I had two friends in high school who bought old gas-guzzlers off their parents. They pretty much held jobs to keep the cars running and fueled. Not smart.

Had another friend who bought a car, and paid and paid for repairs. After about a year, he jokingly figured it would have been cheaper for him to take a limo to school every day.

A car is an expensive convenience. You go where you want, when you want, in privacy and comfort. But, traffic means you don't always make it there on time, and it bleeds cash in initial purchase, fuel, insurance, maintenance, parking. If you can live without one go for it. You can take taxis, get rentals, borrow friend's machines.

 

[Steve Dark]

I don't have a car, because MY WORD are they a massive money sink. Got a motorbike instead, thereby avoiding any female "but you have no car" logic because chicks dig motorbikes.

Seriously SO much cheaper, the actual Motorbike cost me £800, insurance was £150 for my first year, road tax was negligible, and fuel is very rarely more than £10 a week.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Same boat (ha!) here- I have a license but can't afford a car/insurance on a car, but unless you live far south I don't see how you can bike to and from work. I'd like to bike all the time, but around November my home is covered in ice and snow which doesn't leave until around April. At least tell me you wear a helmet; I saw someone biking yesterday in the snow without one... on the road instead of the sidewalk. I take the bus.

That sucks how it affects relationships, but for a job you're thinking of making your career I would suggest trying to get some kind of low-emission vehicle to widen your range of travel. Most bosses (at least my boss) no longer accept 'the bus didn't come' and 'my bike broke down' as excuses, sadly.

I've been toying with the idea of getting an E-bike, but I've heard those are potentially more dangerous than cars since you have to take them on the road... and there's a lot of really bad drivers where I live.

 

[Someone Depressing]

Cars are kind of like dogs.

Expensive to care for, annoying to care for, and sometimes leaves unidentifiable substances on the floor.

Here in Britain, it's pretty common not to have a car; there are walkways on all, or atleast most roads, to you never have to worry. And we've got designated areas for bikers/pedestrians on roads.

 

[prowll]

Where I am, getting a minimum wage job usually means you had to answer the question 'Do you have reliable transportation?' Having nothing with a motor on it basically means no. I can see it being cool to have no car in a big city, say New York, but here, you WILL need to travel farther than 5 miles, there usually isn't good enough bike trails to get you there, and we get a lot lower than 5 degrees.

Also, being mechanically inclined helped. I've taken my car in for repairs, and been told 1000$. The part was 45$, and I put it in myself.

 

[Clowndoe]

I live very near downtown Montreal, the feeling here is pretty much the opposite. Public transportation good enough I'd spend way longer driving to work than taking the metro. In-fact, in the winter, I walk less than five minutes to my station, and from that moment I never have to see the sun until I'm in my office. Plus, nobody I've met treated anyone differently for not owning a car. Obviously, I'd rather have the money.

 

[flandenco]

Have a license, had a car until it got wrecked when I was in high school. Before I got my license I rode pretty much everywhere. Stayed in decent shape because of it. When I started driving though I could feel myself getting heavier since I drove most days. I would prefer to live within a reasonable cycling distance from my university, but prices downtown are ridiculous. I'm currently stuck in a suburb in an unincorporated section of the city and to get to anything outside of our suburb, you either take a 40 minute bus ride or drive.

I do not want to have to get a car since they are massive money sinks, but I enjoy outdoor activities like camping, mountain biking and skiing. To be able to do any of these to a certain degree you have to drive out of the city. Besides needing one for recreation, I have zero reason to buy a car.

 

[shootthebandit]

I have a car and its by far the most convenient method of transport. I live literally round the corner from my work and its a ten min walk so i only use my car at weekends and going to the shop

the problem is that fuel is so expensive, £1.32 a litre is a joke considering the fuel is actually worth about £0.40 and the rest is just a whole load of different taxes. Not to mention insurance is stupidly expensive and so is road tax. because i have a sporty car all of the above is really expensive. my road tax alone is £260 a year

 

[EeveeElectro]

I've heard not driving is seen as odd in America. Don't some states think you're a prostitute if you walk around? I've seen from my American friends they're pressured in a way to drive as soon as they turn 16.

It's not that much of a big deal over here. No one is particularly judgemental if you don't start learning at 17 and public transport is sometimes good enough to use which I've heard it isn't in the US.

sometimes I feel a bit down about not being able to drive and I sometimes think people occasionally think less of me for it but I simply can't afford it right now.

I don't drive or haven't learnt because drivers in my city are fucking dicks. No one knows what an indicator is, or a red light or that when someone is crossing the road you can't run them over.
To give a better idea, my friend was excited because he managed to get his car insurance down to £5k a year. I don't know much about car insurance but I assume that's a lot for his car which isn't a brilliant one.

It's thanks to prats who can't drive bumping up insurance in my area, it's the most expensive in the country.
That and I do NOT want to go driving in my city. I'd be dead within the week.

 

[shootthebandit]

I've heard not driving is seen as odd in America. Don't some states think you're a prostitute if you walk around? I've seen from my American friends they're pressured in a way to drive as soon as they turn 16.

driving in america is a hell of a lot easier. considering 90% of them drive autos and most of their roads are arrow straight. combine an automatic with cruise control on an arrow straight road and you can pretty much sit back and relax (assuming your tracking is good)

To give a better idea, my friend was excited because he managed to get his car insurance down to £5k a year. I don't know much about car insurance but I assume that's a lot for his car which isn't a brilliant one.

It's thanks to prats who can't drive bumping up insurance in my area, it's the most expensive in the country.
That and I do NOT want to go driving in my city. I'd be dead within the week.

On average your probably going to be about £1500 (over $2000 for our american amigos to understand) for your first year and thats if you have a 1.0 litre engine with as much power as a hairdryer. Since you dont have a penis it should be a bit cheaper though

im going to assume you live in the bradford area because thats the only place where ive seen quotes that high

 

[TBman]

this might be worth a look http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/photos/7-car-free-cities/independent-of-the-auto

 

[EeveeElectro]

-snip-

Yep, automatic cars aren't all that common in the UK and then you have to get a different licence to drive one.
It's better to drive in america because it's so big I guess, you'll need a car to get from different states, whereas the UK is tiny.
I thought it was odd how much of a thing learning to drive is other there :s

I'm sure I heard insurance is the same as it is for men? I don't know what it goes by actually because you can't make a whole gender suffer because a percentage of them can't drive for shit. Not sure if it's area or age or gender, but high insurance doesn't make anyone in my city stop driving like a dick.


Yeah, that's where I live. Oldham is apparently just as bad.
I'm waiting until I move to a place with less dickheads on the road before I learn, which should be in the new year.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Unless you live in one of the larger cities, Public transport sucks, and even in some of those cities it still is shit... especially in Florida. I personally don't want a car but where I live its needed to get around because of distance to food stores and jobs.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Whats worse is I know not having a car hurts me in other ways. Not having a car in America is a relationship non-starter; like somehow people are incapable of having a social life because they don't own a four-wheeled vehicle (My like of anime, video games and things that already had that covered but not owning a car just adds to that).

I find it kind of funny that we have this big goal of cutting emissions and getting people off the road; but when someone takes it to the natural extension people think he is crazy.

Hey man, try having a car but it being a mini van from 1994. At least biking might get you the green crowd. Having that mini van effectively prevents any form of relationship from building.

But anyways, it has a lot to do with the fact that cars are a status symbol in America. If you don't have one, you are generally considered poor unless you live in a metropolitan area where it is literally pointless to have a car, and those only exist in a few places. On the other extreme, a lot of people often buy expensive, or expensive looking, cars to bolster their own ego. Ultimately, cars are seen as a symbol of social status, and not having one tends to put you on the lower end of that. Nothing wrong with having one, of course, and walking or biking is better for the environment than even our most "eco-friendly" cars, but try telling that to the average American who is willing to spend half their income on the "coolest" car on the market.

 

[Jubeigah]

I'm in a rather good place with cars. I walk everywhere or bike if I need speed (and because I did this when I owned a car, I junked it to stop paying insurance). But, it doesn't bug me when other people drive because it means I pass fewer people on the sidewalk. I don't like feigning smiles at people.

My own unpleasantness aside, the fact is there was a time I needed a car. When i lived with my parents we were way out from town, with two main roads leading in. One was a winding mountain road on which people were idiots; if they were new to it they'd drive down the middle or too fast, etc. Definitely impassable without a car if you expect to live. The other was a highway of sorts with a speed limit of 80 that everyone tended to do 120 on, and some days for whatever quirky societal reason everyone would either absolutely hug the yellow line or drift onto the shoulder. I'd also see a disproportionate number of cars with the left headlight burnt out. Still not sure what that's about. Setting aside the dangers coming from cars themselves, it would've taken me hours to walk and certainly over an hour to bike to work. Hardly worth it when my average shift was 4 hours.

When I moved out, I moved into town. I still drove a lot, but the circumstances changed. Now it wasn't getting me somewhere that I basically couldn't go. It was taking 15 minutes, gas, and insurance to get me to a place I could easily get by walking (when I started, the trip took about an hour; now it's 40 minutes at max) or biking (exact same time taken as driving, due to the nature of the route). Considering I'm the type who needs to walk or bike every day anyway lest I feel like crap, that 30 minute round trip of driving wasn't saved time. It was additional transportation time, since I'd need to go for a walk aside from that anyway. Suddenly the one reason I could see to own a car was gone.

While I could go off on a rant about societal pressures and 'universally' accepted milestones and status symbols (sex, cars, schooling, job, income, etc) the fact is I found something I'm happy with by not owning a car, and maybe in the future that will change. I can certainly say I wouldn't be happy working 40 hours a week and despite living with parents having no cash left over at the end of the month to pay for a car as in my friend's current situation, so I don't.

As for those of you who feel pressured by others to own a car despite not needing one, really the only advice I can give is living well. Have some patience, and these people will be much worse off health-wise than you at age 40, especially if they're the type to drive across a parking lot because walking such a distance is unthinkable.

 

[Yopaz]

I feel sorry for you, because your society is messed up, not because you don't have a car.

I don't have a car and few of my friends do, why would I need one with the ease of getting on a bus around here? A bike would suffice, but I don't dare to get one because of all the theft around here and if a bike is properly secured then they just trash it.

It's great for the environment, it's healthy for you (if you're careful mind!) and it saves money. A car is really expensive, it takes maintenance and if you're not really good at that kind of stuff or know anyone who can help you then you're likely to get screwed over.

 

[Kennetic]

Having a car is so much easier than flying and using public transportation or taxis when you're in the military. I have never regretted owning a car. The maintenance is minimal and insurance and fuel is not bad. Beats the hell out of paying $900 for a plane ticket when I go home on leave.

 

[The Lugz]

So I think I've gotten to the point where people "pitying" me for something or thinking I'm insane for something is getting old.

snippety


Whats worse is I know not having a car hurts me in other ways. Not having a car in America is a relationship non-starter; like somehow people are incapable of having a social life because they don't own a four-wheeled vehicle

1.
people will think you're odd NOMATTER WHAT! that's just life. people think gamers are odd, people think golfers are odd, people think wine connoisseurs are odd. that's just life me old china, you cannot please all the people all the time.

2.
find a partner with a car, and boom. sorted!

 

[not_you]

Unfortunately, I don't quite understand how you live without one....

I mean, unless the public transport system is head+shoulders better than here (Australia) then, yeah... I couldn't do it...

That is, unless I want to spend $30 on taxi fares to/from work every day... But no, I couldn't stand it...
Public transport (when it IS running) is just too slow anyway... Owning a car I could get across town within 20 minutes... going by bus, it'd probably take an hour... at least...

Just the convenience of owning a vehicle changes so much by comparison...
I mean, sure... I could probably buy a bike if I wanted to... Hell, it'd be great for my body anyway... But again, cycling across town would probably be slower than the bus option, and that really isn't something I want to do either...
Considering I'd be drenched in sweat by the time I got anywhere too...
Since it's usually over 30 degrees (celsius) for 4 months of the year...