Is a car a luxury or a necessity?

[altus]

Do you think he should:

 

A)give up his job and hope he gets another locally

B)keep his job and move his kids and m in l

C)keep his car

C - keep the car. I'm not arguing that people should give up their cars - just accept that owning one is a choice not a necessity and that the problems caused by so many cars on the roads are partly their fault.

Now the essay question.

 

If car ownership was outlawed to ww2 levels only the richband people like doctors had them would that be better or worse for our economy now ?

Worse.

 

An essay question for you:

 

If all the reasonably healthy people who live within 2 miles from work walked there (or 5 miles and cycled), would there be less or more congestion? How would them not spending so much money on petrol and parking charges effect the economy?

[dosxuk]

Public tranport does not start while mid morning, about 7 am

 

I must be hallucinating the busses I see when I walk home from work at 5 in the morning then...

[HDious]

So you've made choices that make it impractical to not have a car - fair enough.

 

Having a disabled mother doesn't affect it - people had disabled mothers before cars were invented.

 

I'm guessing your anti-car and would rather us use horses instead?

 

Or maybe a cyclist?

 

Of course my Mother affects it, by disabled I mean housebound not sat idle doing nothing just to claim DLA.

You try doing a 15 hour shift, then travelling 20 miles over 2 hrs by bus/bicycle/horse to go and take your housebound Mother a pint of milk and then another 2 hrs back home because that's what I'd be doing if I moved near work and didn't have a car.

[altus]

I'm guessing your anti-car and would rather us use horses instead?

 

Or maybe a cyclist?

 

Of course my Mother affects it, by disabled I mean housebound not sat idle doing nothing just to claim DLA.

You try doing a 15 hour shift, then travelling 20 miles over 2 hrs by bus/bicycle/horse to go and take your housebound Mother a pint of milk and then another 2 hrs back home because that's what I'd be doing if I moved near work and didn't have a car.

You've missed the point.

 

The choices you've made make it impractical for you to not have a car. If you'd made different ones, that would not be the case.

Edited March 20, 2012 by altus

[tinfoilhat]

C - keep the car. I'm not arguing that people should give up their cars - just accept that owning one is a choice not a necessity and that the problems caused by so many cars on the roads are partly their fault.

 

Worse.

 

An essay question for you:

 

If all the reasonably healthy people who live within 2 miles from work walked there (or 5 miles and cycled), would there be less or more congestion? How would them not spending so much money on petrol and parking charges effect the economy?

 

Glad you chose C) I wasn't sure how to break the fact he was moving ! Technically all single occupant cars in a queue are all equally culpable but do we need to make people feel bad for that ?

 

And now the essay, which will be better than you one word affair. Never been an essay !!

 

In an ideal world, yes you would save the economy money and the environment too. I used to walk to work many moons ago and thinking back was far fitter for it ? Cycles ? I'm not sure in Sheffield it's too hilly. Sales of deodorant would go up though. Walking and/or cycling would be good for everything in terms if commuting. How are you going to get people to do it though ? Put up parking charges ? You only need to compare meadowhall and the city centre to see how well that would work out.

 

You need a way to convince people to ditch the cars not price them out of their cars into slow unreliable public transport. Don't guilt people out of them either !

[Xt500]

You've missed the point.

 

The choices you've made make it impractical for you to not have a car. If you'd made different ones, that would not be the case.

 

Yeh he could go on the dole there would be no need for travel then!

Of course if many do that then most of the automotive industry would be forced to do the same too and of course all the firms that supply then and the ones that supply them and........

[altus]

Yeh he could go on the dole there would be no need for travel then!

Of course if many do that then most of the automotive industry would be forced to do the same too and of course all the firms that supply then and the ones that supply them and........

You're missing the point too.

[altus]

Glad you chose C) I wasn't sure how to break the fact he was moving ! Technically all single occupant cars in a queue are all equally culpable but do we need to make people feel bad for that ?

They don't have to feel bad - just not complain about traffic jams.

And now the essay, which will be better than you one word affair.

I was never good at essay answers at school either.

Never been an essay !!

 

In an ideal world, yes you would save the economy money and the environment too. I used to walk to work many moons ago and thinking back was far fitter for it ? Cycles ? I'm not sure in Sheffield it's too hilly. Sales of deodorant would go up though. Walking and/or cycling would be good for everything in terms if commuting. How are you going to get people to do it though ? Put up parking charges ? You only need to compare meadowhall and the city centre to see how well that would work out.

 

You need a way to convince people to ditch the cars not price them out of their cars into slow unreliable public transport. Don't guilt people out of them either !

It's a difficult problem and if I had the answers I'm sure I could make a fortune advising governments around the world what to do. As it is, I don't even work in a town planning department.

[Scozzie]

My car is a necessity. I work SO far away from home and in the middle of nowhere, that I need a car to get to work to earn the money to buy the fuel to put in my car so I can get to work.

 

(don't you love adjusting famous quotes to suit?)

[Balpin]

For me they're a luxury. I have managed all my adult life without one. Clearly they're a necessity for some, but many others use them for journeys they could easily make on foot which is both selfish and extremely lazy.

 

If we still have free transport for pensioners, they will be out of my life in four years as well.

Driving used to be a pleasure, now it is a nightmare.

Let someone else do the driving I say.