Sympathy?
I'm probably in a small minority by thinking this, but I have zero sympathy for any* problems or annoyances incurred by motorists.

Fuel prices increasing?
"Road tax" increasing?
Insurance costs increasing?
Stuck in a traffic jam**?
Bus lanes stopping you driving on perfectly good bits of road?
Can't find a parking space directly outside your own house?
Car needs yet another service, setting you back hundreds of squids?
One-way system preventing you accessing your destination quickly enough?
Ice on your windscreen on a winter's morning?
Other, equally selfish drivers cutting you up?
Unable to take important calls on your Blackberry because some politican decided it was dangerous when it's obviously perfectly safe and they have no idea what they're talking about?
Pedestrians/cyclists/anyone else in control of a lesser powered vehicle "getting in your way" and delaying your journey***?
Flat tyre on the A36 at 9pm on a Friday?

Here's a novel idea: GET RID OF YOUR FUCKING CAR. A car is a luxury, not a necessity. Walk to work. Cycle. Take public transport. Do your bank balance and blood pressure a huge favour. And get out of *my* way by not parking on the sodding pavement. You arrogant twat.

* Obviously if someone is killed or injured while behind the wheel of a car and at the time of the accident was not behaving like a complete spacktard this rule doesn't apply.
** You're part of the problem as well. Don't take it out on other people.
*** Just run them over. They deserve it because they're not as fast as you.
(SJH, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 1:49, 16 replies)

I'll get rid of my lorry as well...
... and then you won't have any vegetables in the shops.

Cars *are* a necessity for lots of people. You probably don't need one to drive your morbidly obese children 200m to school though.
(gordonjcp, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 9:55, closed)

While I don't *entirely* disagree with you
the unfortunate state of public transport in this country does mean cars are a necessity for a lot of people. I live a 40 minute drive away from my parents in Cambridge but to get home by train would take 2 and a half hours and cost me double the petrol money and there aren't any buses. Funnily enough, living in Cambridge, I walk everywhere and the car only comes out for the weekly shop so like I said, I don't entirely disagree with you but sometimes there just isn't a choice.
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 12:35, closed)

I was going to add something similar
along the lines of "where does the OP live?"

I live in the commuter belt and public transport is absolutely brilliant for getting me in to London, but I don't work there. I work on different sites in the area, some accessible by public transport, some not.

The top post seems like a classic case of 'I am the world' mentality, to be honest. I flipping hate driving and would give it up in a heartbeat if I could.
(slowly play it cool, Trig, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 12:55, closed)

Most people I know who swear by their car never seem to actually enjoy the experience of driving. In fact most of them seem to fucking hate it but at the same time seem wholly resigned to the whole idea.
(Monchberter Can't go wrong with Doom, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 23:07, closed)

Yeah sure, I'll just walk to work, it's only 15 miles after all.
And then from work I'll just walk to my home visits, my teaching sessions etc.

If you can get by without a car then either you have excellent public transport where you live or you don't have to travel much.
( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 13:16, closed)

Or, as people tend to build cars into their lives (living somewhere remote, or on an inaccessible estate in the sticks) why not try thinking about building your life around 'not' having a car?

You free up a lot of money if you're not ploughing it into a motor, so why not live more centrally, think about moving where you can walk to the shops / get decent public transport.

/smug
(Monchberter Can't go wrong with Doom, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 23:10, closed)

I'm a GP registrar.
As a final year medical student I was placed in a different hospital every 6 weeks. As a doctor I have been in a different job every 4 to 6 months for the past 5 years. My latest placement is a 40 minute drive from my house. My contract states that I have to provide my own transport not only to get to work but also to visit patients at home.
Admittedly I could have gone into a different career but short of that the last decade would have been pretty impossible without a car.
( 2 Can Chunder Word to your mums, I came to prod bums, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 23:24, closed)

I have yet to find such a thing as "decent public transport" - in this country, at least.
I looked into getting the bus to work instead of driving every day. I live in Derby, which although it's not the most citylike of cities I've ever known isn't exactly a backwater hamlet, and it's unworkable. Apart from the fact it was about four times the cost, the journey involved two buses, a short walk and at least an hour, whereas the car takes about 20 minutes, or 30 on a bad day.

See also my post below about trains
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Mon 5 Mar 2012, 16:10, closed)

Just because you're too poor to afford a car and can get by without one doesn't mean everyone is in the same position.
If your computer suddenly cost you an extra ten pounds a week to use would you not complain?
Regardless lf whether a posession is considered a luxury or not it's still wrong for the government to arbitrarily make it more expensive to own because they want to spend more money on their second homes.
I also hope that you don't own a television, never eat meat, don't drink or smoke and live in a bedsit. Otherwise you're a hypocritical twat.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 15:45, closed)

"it's still wrong for the government to arbitrarily make it more expensive to own because they want to spend more money on their second homes."

What the blithering fuck?
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Mon 5 Mar 2012, 9:17, closed)

Internet Troll
Trolls teh internets
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Sun 4 Mar 2012, 17:15, closed)

I drive for a living
in one of my jobs.

If I didn't, I would not be able to *fast respond* to emergencies and women giving birth at home and stuff.

It's all very well saying 'you can do it on foot' yeah you can but peoples' expectations are such that you kind of have to do it by car.

When I work in my other job I get public transport. Except that I resent the huge cost of that. Costs a fucking BOMB to commute to central London.
(Clarabelle is reverting to type on, Sun 4 Mar 2012, 17:18, closed)

Out of curiosity I've just checked thetrainline.com...
...and the journey I do most weekends to my fiancée's would take a minimum of an hour longer on the train. The return journey would take two hours longer, and would mean me leaving hers about 4 hours earlier than I usually do.

You can't argue with the price, though: it ranges from £20 more than the petrol would cost me through to £210 more than the petrol would cost me.

Oh, and I wouldn't be able to take my dog.
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Mon 5 Mar 2012, 16:06, closed)

I suppose my mother could take her electric wheelchair down to the shops
But her van with the wheelchair lift has a much longer-lasting battery and holds more groceries than she can fit on her lap.
(louveciennes , Volvospotter, Mon 5 Mar 2012, 18:15, closed)

Obvious Troll
Why is it these kind of "get rid of your car" posts are always so arrogant? Just 'cos your office job is at the end of a simple bus ride, it does not mean other people are the same. Like many here, I have a job that involves going to see my client at their premises. I never know what I will have to deal with when I arrive which means needing to carry spare kit in a car.

I live in a city which hates cars so am forced onto public transport at times. This is then a lot more expensive, always means a long walk to my client's house, and I can never carry enough of my kit so often get stuck doing multiple journeys.

Tomorrow my job is out in the countryside - miles away from trains and a most unbelievable complexity of multiple bus routes to get there which would mean it would take all day just to visit that one client, instead of the 30mins drive that it is going to be in my car.

Not every one works in an office. Grow up. Learn about other people before you preach at them.
( Batter Pudding Hurler is a figment of your imagination, Mon 5 Mar 2012, 20:59, closed)

Yeah, some of those things are annoying
but because I don't live in the 1950's I'm quite happy to put up with them in order to continue living in the 21st century where cars have become a necessity and not a luxury for the majority.
( Nuisance Value, Mon 5 Mar 2012, 22:47, closed)