Do cars liberate us?

[slowmotion]

I live in London. I ride the bike pretty much everywhere when I'm in town. Driving has become increasingly unappealing to me over the last five years. I don't feel smug or self-righteous or planet-saving or even much fitter, I just really enjoy bimbling about on two wheels. It's got to the state where a journey on four wheels is cause for grumpiness, but that's when I'm in London. Traveling away from London, I'm afraid that I have an aversion to throwing myself at the mercy of the railway network. I dislike the uncertainty, dependence and expense. If we were organised we would dump our own four wheels and join one of those car clubs where you pay by the day. I'm far too disorganised to get that in place.

 

[MacB]

No.

Folks, the link above is to an Illich piece first published in 1973, it is a very dense read and could easily be shorter but, when it sinks in, it really is fascinating. Particularly so when you realise that the descriptions are, at times uncomfortably, accurate and that we have seen many of the predictions becoming reality over the last 40 years.

I'm not going to try and explain it, it really is worth a read and experiencing first hand

 

[MacB]

Yes, 1973 was clearly an amazing year: the Illich essay, Gorz, and Schumacher's Small is Beautiful. If only people had taken more notice between then and now.

That's one of the things that always strikes me, things are so often portrayed as 'if we'd known then what we know now'. Yet you can always find plenty of voices at the time they just didn't receive the MSM attention. Certainly this is true of the railways/Beeching, capital flight, every banking crisis and probably plenty in areas I'm far less familiar with.

 

[format]

The automobile causes the collective yearning for mobility to be transformed into mass immobility.

 

[byegad]

Whilst a car can in many cases be liberating for many people, The cost of buying, insuring, servicing, and fuel will buy a great many taxi fares, bus and train fares over the years, with of course the cadged/blagged rides from friends and neighbours.

So it works if you factor in the generosity of friends with cars. That is still relying on a car for added freedom in my book.

 

[Levo-Lon]

A car certainly liberated me from my cbr 600 a long time ago lol

you need to be pretty self sufficient to manage without a car ,being banned for nearly 2yr taught me that.

 

[MacB]

A car certainly liberated me from my cbr 600 a long time ago lol

you need to be pretty self sufficient to manage without a car ,being banned for nearly 2yr taught me that.

depends where you live, when I lived in London it never crossed my mind to have a car

 

[clid61]

Camt be arsed with car anymore , wife drives . I commute 16 mile round trip per day , if I need to go anywhere further than walking or riding then GMT train and bus is so cheap and efffecient !

 

[theclaud]

1973 was clearly an amazing year

I'm not going to argue with that

 

[Jimmy Doug]

So it works if you factor in the generosity of friends with cars. That is still relying on a car for added freedom in my book.

It depends how it's done. Very few people would say we could completely do away with cars at the present time, especially for those of us lucky enough to live in rural areas. Car-sharing is a sensible solution to reducing the number of cars on the roads in all areas, and with the Internet and smartphones it's becoming easier and more practical. Naturally, car-sharing is also cost-sharing.

 

[samsbike]

I hate driving, but still like riding my scoot and bicycle. I do however, have a car because I need it for the weekend to ferry the kids around. However the minute we can that car hire scheme in the burbs I am selling up.

 

[tyred]

If you could stop people making pointless <5 mile journeys which could easily be made by foot or bike, you'd probably find most of the traffic congestion would disappear.

 

[MacB]

If you could stop people making pointless <5 mile journeys which could easily be made by foot or bike, you'd probably find most of the traffic congestion would disappear.

a good point and I have no idea how other than outright bans which seems rather OTT - obviously education etc but I'm pretty sure that a lot already have the knowledge

 

[Dan B]

I hate driving, but still like riding my scoot and bicycle. I do however, have a car because I need it for the weekend to ferry the kids around. However the minute we can that car hire scheme in the burbs I am selling up.

Guessing your kids are old enough not to need car seats and all that isofix stuff, because I find it complicated enough to get toddler + four month old in the car and strapped down even without having to find the mounting points and install their seats first

 

[GrumpyGregry]

There are plenty of folk at work that think I ride a bike to be green. I put them right straight off. How many Lycra clad bike riders with another 3 bikes in the garage do it for being green. I have a garage full of kit, and a Car, yes a car, that sits on the drive ?

Had a really good discussion with a chap that retired last year that comes back to teach, he drives some nice Alfas and has had a Z4 ( was his daughters). He asked about how I've been, no more accidents, then I told him about my recent one. He actually thought I rode to be green, explaining it keeps me fit, is faster and more reliable than a car sort of sold it.

Money saving, yeh right, I've yet to meet a cyclist that commutes to save money.

We've not met. £16 a day on the train.
Riding in saves me a stack.