Do cars liberate us?

[GrumpyGregry]

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.

Not hard to stop. What is lacking is the will. Nearly all car owners have the vote.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

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

Take away the speed advantage by lower in-town speed limits.
Take away the convenience by closing the ugly car parks.
et cetera.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Not hard to stop. What is lacking is the will. Nearly all car owners have the vote.

Impossible to stop. You want to go five miles? Simple, take a longer route and do ten instead.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Impossible to stop. You want to go five miles? Simple, take a longer route and do ten instead.

Only works if you drive in circles.

 

[byegad]

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.

Sounds like a great excuse for bumming a ride to me!

 

[samsbike]

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

Yep, which does make it easier

 

[MacB]

Take away the speed advantage by lower in town speed limits.
Take away the convenience by closing the ugly car parks.
et cetera.

Though I agree with you I don't see how we achieve the will or support - it makes me think of the way everyone moans about traffic but never considers themselves to be traffic.

Something that's always amused me is imagining a big re-design or what it would be like if I had a fresh canvas - it's interesting that the bare bones are never that far from what we have with the big fly in the ointment always being the car. In recent years I've been particularly taken by concepts, new to me, such as those espoused by Illich about space, time and speed. Having worked from home a lot, cycle commuted and taken full advantage of supermarket home delivery, it's made me look more at cars and the role they play in general and in my life.

 

[Brandane]

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

I have never lived in London, but even visiting with a car is a complete PITA.. Nowhere to park for starters, and extortionate prices if you do find a space. Spend all day stuck in traffic.

If I lived in London I wouldn't consider having a car, but they have viable alternatives in the form of a 24 hour public transport system, and having everything you might need within a few miles radius.

 

[MacB]

I have never lived in London, but even visiting with a car is a complete PITA.. Nowhere to park for starters, and extortionate prices if you do find a space. Spend all day stuck in traffic.
If I lived in London I wouldn't consider having a car, but they have viable alternatives in the form of a 24 hour public transport system, and having everything you might need within a few miles radius.

and that second bit is kind of the point, we have removed many viable alternatives and catered almost exclusively to the car with, from what I can see, no real long term plan to deal with the consequences. The car is so embedded in our society and psyche that even the most obvious has to be spelled out and even then it doesn't meet with agreement. For example the idea of imposing congestion and pollution on others by commuting and the two dominant views in response:-

tough - if you want to get away from the congestion/pollution then earn it otherwise put up and shut up

it's a shame - but we have to think of us/our children, prices have forced us out, we can't manage without a car, we love living in the country so a lengthy car commute is a price we're prepared to pay for this......and so on

Neither of these responses really considers the car itself to be the problem and most people somehow believe that it's possible for everyone to have their cake and eat it or simply do not care. The MSM constantly sides with the put upon motorist and fuels the injustice they feel. Even those that have woken to the realisation that the car imposes chains still find those chains very hard to shake. The gap between the freedoms we believe a car symbolises and the reality, well detailed by Illich, is huge.

 

[Smurfy]

I commute by bike, but I like my car too. It's unbelievably economical (my record is over 69mpg) and takes me places that would be difficult or impossible by public transport.

 

[MacB]

I commute by bike, but I like my car too. It's unbelievably economical (my record is over 69mpg) and takes me places that would be difficult or impossible by public transport.

which is about as empty a statement as it's possible to make on this subject

 

[Smurfy]

which is about as empty a statement as it's possible to make on this subject

How much more is there to say? I've tried living without a car for a few months, missed the convenience and freedom of being able to go anywhere, anytime, so went straight out and bought another one.

 

[400bhp]

[QUOTE="MacB, post: 3380096, member: 3856"The car is so embedded in our society and psyche...

.... The MSM constantly sides with the put upon motorist and fuels the injustice they feel[/QUOTE]

The above is why the MSM do exactly that.

A car is no longer a luxury good. It's classed as a necessity.

 

[mcshroom]

Which is of course nonsense when over 25% of the UK population (and 37% of the London population) survive without access to a car/van
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/censu...-and-wales.html#tab---Car-or-van-availability

 

[jarlrmai]

I can drive but don't own a car, a car would come in really handy at the moment as I'm travelling 12 miles to see my sports therapist and can't ride there and public transport there turns a 25 min car journey into 1 hour 20 mins.