How Vital

[TWR]

is your car in your life, could you do without it?

[Cloverjo]

Before I had a car I cycled everywhere or took a bus.
I've got lazy now and rely on it to get me to work and shopping. I suppose if I had to give up my car I'd cycle to work and get the shopping delivered, but I love my car.

[ummmm]

I don't have a car at the moment. It was never really vital for day to day stuff as I live close by to all amenities.

[bhg481]

Everybody could manage without a car; it would just be more inconvenient or less enjoyable. We would lose our curent style of holidays and our days out, others would have to get a different job or learn how to live on benefits. The chance of losing the car sits over everyone.

[woofgang]

where I live public transport is dire. I could live without a car....I mean everyone in the world could but life would be very different and much more difficult. I don’t use it for holidays or days out.
Its all very well to say “learn how to live on benefits" but if nobody had cars and everyone was on benefits, who would be earning the money to pay the tax to provide the benefits?
When I worked (retired now) I worked in the NHS in the community visiting people in their own homes to treat them and provide and install equipment to help them to be more independent. That job would have been impossible without a car.

[EDDIE51]

Yes I could do without it.

[wolf63]

I can't drive and have never owned a car.. on a day to day basis there are no problems. At present I need to take stuff to the dump and this is a problem.

[Old_Geezer]

There's few things in life that are vital to survival. Air, food & drink, shelter, etc.. But some things, like a car, are so important to quality of life and being able to do the things I want that any anti-car brigade achievement makes me think we need to ship these sadists off to an island of their own where the only people they can pick on and make miserable are themselves.

[ummmm]

Getting to work and shops by foot takes between 10 and 20 minutes.

When I had a car it sat outside for days on end.

[bhg481]

I'm assuming we're not talking about life without cars, just life without personal cars. So Woolfie could still have done his job because there would have been pool cars, councils provide pick-up services for stuff to be taken to the tip etc. Not as convenient but do-able.

[ummmm]

bhg...the councils charge you for it.

[woofgang]

bhg......I am a “she”
Yes the NHS could provide pool cars but that would be a very expensive way of providing the service which I am betting means that the service wouldn’t be provided.

[bhg481]

Yes, the councils charge you for it, but take the cost of buying/running your car and remove it completely from your annual budget. People think that going to the tip is £x of fuel and forget the car is depreciating at a phenominal rate for most people as well as servicing/maintenance costs. Once you decide to own a car then lots of trips are cheaper than bus/train fares but it costs a lot of money just to own a car without using it. It's probably cheaper for most people to take a taxi shopping, provided they give up their car altogether.

[bhg481]

Apologies Woolfie - I should have checked your sex.

[bhg481]

The firm I worked for before I retired preferred you to have a hire car (not even a pool car) for any business away from base. They claimed that was cheaper than processing claims from individuals. They had a contract with a car hire firm.

[bhg481]

I'm off out now, making a trip in my car to a National Trust property which would be completely impractical without my own car, so that would be a serious lifestyle change if I gave up my car, but not vital.

[Prudie]

Totally vital and without it my life would have a dramatic loss of quality.

[ummmm]

bhg...When I ran a business we used to do that. Hired cars were cheaper in the long run.

[TheChair]

I have to do a round trip of 125 miles to take my wife to hospital once a fortnight. Without a car it would be virtually impossible.

[rockyracoon]

My life would be a nightmmare without the car. It takes me 15-20 minutes to get to work, if I had to go by bus it would be between 50-80 minutes.

[Baldric]

I guess we could probably manage with one car when OH finally retires later this year, but having three is good gives a choice and we both enjoy driving. and thinking about it we most likely wouldn't want to go to the same place at the same time, she could go shopping while I go down the Country Park with the dog (we're looking atm.) and you never know when a 4x4 might be useful.