Big cities and driving

In My Humble Opinion
41

Like pullin and other posters here, I can’t comprehend an adult who doesn’t drive.

Now, I can comprehend somebody who doesn’t need a car much in his daily life, because he lives in Manhatten or central London or wherever .
But I absolutely cannot comprehend that such a person thinks he will never, ever need a car for the rest of his life, or that he doesn’t even realize that he lacks a basic life skill .Not having a drivers license is like not having a high school diploma. You can be happy and successful without one, but it doesn’t make your life any easier.

Sure, most of what you need for your life is available near the subway stations or bus stops in your city.
But–and this is my point–has it never, ever occurred to you that sometimes you might leave your city?
Not everything is within walking distance.

Haven’t you ever wanted to see ,say, Yellowstone National Park, or the Grand Canyon?
Or how about visiting those relatives who live in Dallas, or Atlanta, or your grandparents who retired and moved to Miami? Or your friend from university who married a guy from Ohio and invites you to her wedding in Columbus? What happens if your employer suddenly sends you to visit the company’s branch office in another city?
At some point in your life, you’ll want to rent a car, even if you never want to own one.

For 80-90% of American adults of working age,driving is an essential skill, taken taken for granted. I know a guy in New York who was turned down for a job promotion (computer programmer) , because the other candidate could drive.
Why cut yourself off ?

42

I guess I approach it a little differently. I estimate what my peers spend, roughly, on cars. And then I look at the cost of about 100-200 taxi rides per year, and I come out ahead. Plus I don’t need to worry about DWIs, repairs, or parking.

Responding to the post above, which was made as I was posting the first part:

I have no license, and I’ve seen the Grand Canyon. It was easy - just book a tour on one of those little private planes that fly in from Vegas. Super fun.

43

In the UK, you can’t get a provisional licence (required to drive as a learner on public roads) before the age of 17. We don’t live in the kind of country where many people have vast estates where the kids can practice on private roads, so 99% of people have to wait til they’re 17 to start.

Then we don’t have it as part of schooling, so you have to organise lessons privately. Sure, you can get Dad to teach you, but the driving test is strict – we have one of the best safety records in the world, pretty great for such a crowded country – and chances are, Dad’s tips and bad habits aren’t going to get you through. So someone needs to pay for you to have lessons. I was lucky, my parents paid for me, but plenty parents can’t afford it or don’t see why they should. And chances are, first time, you’re going to fail the test (c. 60% fail), which means more expensive lessons. And if you DO pass your test, what are you going to drive? Insurance for youngsters is outrageous, so what’s the point of learning if you can’t drive a car afterwards?

So many kids just don’t bother til they are in a position to afford it. Which means, for many, post college.

44

There aren’t any school buses?

45

Grew up in Los Angeles. Learned to drive at 16 and got a car that same age. You’re not going anywhere in LA without a car

46

I can’t imagine being an adult and not at least knowing how to drive.

47

Like other posters, I can understand a lifestyle that requires no driving – I lived in Asia for a few years and never drove – nor needed to – when I was there, but I cannot imagine not knowing how to drive. I got my license when I was 14. I lived in rural Idaho, and believe me, if you didn’t have a license and access to a vehicle, you weren’t leaving the farm.
I notice attitudes have really changed, though. When my son was in high school he was not in any hurry to learn to drive, and neither were most of his friends. I work with a lot of people who don’t drive, although most of them probably learned at some point. This is in a college town of about 130k, so a medium sized city with pretty good public transportation and biking culture.

48

I haven’t gotten my license because I’ve never been in a situation that’s needed it (lived mostly in big cities and abroad- indeed, for four years my employment scenario specifically barred me from driving). I have a minor vision issue that requires extra documentation, which is enough a hurdle that getting my license “just to have it” hasn’t really made my list of priorities.

Living in the city, everything you actually need really is transit-accessible. When you go to something like an interview, government office, party, event, etc. directions are automatically given in terms of public transit, and parking is often not considered at all. And since most of your friends are in the same boat as you, plans are made around transit. The alternative- which would require making plans around parking- would actually be less convenient. It’s the guy who needs to park who is always the pain in the butt to accommodate.

Not owning a car has been a wise choice for me. The average American vehicle costs $8,000 a year to own. My public transportation budget is about $1,000 a year. This means that in the 16 years since I turned 16, I’ve saved about $112,000 on vehicle ownership. That buys you a hell of a lot of creative workarounds.Indeed, it’s precisely because I’m not paying for a vehicle that I have been able to travel as much as I have, and so far I’ve made it to around 25 countries. My would-be car budget is effectively my travel budget.

When I’m traveling solo in the US, I use a mix of airport shuttles, public transit, and taxis. Every major city in the US has SOME way to get from the airport to downtown. From downtown, you can usually figure something out. It’s true that I don’t do a lot of solo travel to small town America and when I go home to visit the parents, I’m a little housebound, but the money I save buys me a lot of travel to small town India and small town Zimbabwe instead. Both drivers and non-drivers make trade-offs, and this is the set of trade-offs that have worked for me so far.

The good thing is that when it’s time to learn (and, with a baby on the way a new vision insurance, this will be sooner than later), I can go out and get my license when I need to. It’s not like that capability disappears. I understand I will probably be more cautious and need more time to warm up than a teen would. I don’t think that is a bad thing-- teens are 4x more likely to be involved in a major accident. Having a realistic understanding of the dangers, in my mind, is an advantage.

There are plenty of driving schools, and some are aimed at adults and “lapsed drivers.” They will even offer you a car to take the test in.

49

It shouldn’t be hard for any adult with a reasonable income to get to any of those cities. They all have frequent, fast, and relatively cheap intercity mass transportation.

50

It was more of a logistics issue. Kids are/were in a variety of extracurricular activities, which are graded partially based on attending practice before and after school. The missus not only couldn’t drive, but couldn’t fit the wounded leg easily into our compact car. The only reasonable option was for my underage son (15) to drive her to work in the truck, then himself to school, then fetch his younger sibling after school. I had an unusual work schedule at the time and could only cover part of the morning transportation ritual.

Once presented with all the details, the DMV person agreed there was no other way. My son was limited to only his sibling in the vehicle, and only following a prescribed route with the predetermined stops. Supposedly, violation of these parameters would result in ticketing and license forfeiture.

51

My last job as an architect required that I have a drivers license even though I never had to drive to a job site once. It was just another box to tick off in the hiring process but I’m glad I could tick it off.

52

It’s funny how many of the posts are around public transport. I don’t have a car or license and never take the bus or light rail in the city I live in.

There’s a convenient store in the same building I live, a grocery store 2 blocks away, barber 1.5 blocks away, 12 minute walk to work, movie theater 3 blocks, a dry cleaner within a block or 2 of any direction you walk, and more bars and restaurants than you can shake a stick at. My doctor’s office is in the same complex as the movie theater (also a CVS, 5 guys, some froyo, etc.), so that’s convenient. Dentist is across the street from my office.

Where would I be taking this bus to?

53

I’m in the same situation for personal things. But I need a truck or van for work. But my cost per year is only $1200 for insurance. Bought the van three years ago for $400. Work pays for gas and a stipend for repairs. Of which I do most of (proactively when possible). And if times get too hard I can live in it down by the river.

54

Learned to drive in the New Orleans suburbs. Took Driver’s Ed for automatic and Dad taught me stick by having me drive around the warehouse district on Sundays. Blue Laws were still in effect at the time.

55

Lifelong New Yorker. I don’t know how to drive.

Well, I think I do, but the Department of Motor Vehicles doesn’t see it that way. I do plan to take another, ah, run at getting a license pretty soon, though.

56

Born and raised in Manhattan, got my license at 28 after living in Queens for a couple of years. My then-boyfriend taught me how to drive and I would practice in the Shea Stadium parking lot. Took my road test in Staten Island, which some called cheating. :slight_smile:

57

(my bolding)
I’m not talking about out to get to a certain city. I’m talking about how to get around within those cities.
Imagine a simple weekend visit to your extended family. An adult in America is expected to be able to rent a car and drive himself from the airport to his motel, then to his grandmother’s house for a visit, then to the church where the wedding is being held the next day. Then the next day drive to his cousin’s house for a backyard barbecue, and then drive himself back to the motel at night, and back to the airport the next morning. If your flight leaves on Moday morning, you should not expect your cousin to take the day off work because he has to drive you around like a parent taking his child somewhere.

If you live in New York City, not owning a car is fine. But when you leave New York, not owning a drivers license is irresponsible.

I’m in the construction business, and I would never want to work with an architect who can’t drive to the job site. Maybe your main responsiblity would not require it very often. But what happens when somebody else from the office is sick or on vacation? You might need to visit a job site once or twice a year.
A drivers license is like a checking account. Everybody should have one.
Maybe you can manage without a checkbook, like the poor laborers who use those “payday check cashing” services.
But it’s not what a responsible adult does if he has other options.
The ability to drive is a basic life skill in America.

58

The airport? A state park? The lake? Relative?

With all due respect, are those few blocks your entire world? I can’t imagine this. I realize people are different, but I grow pretty restless knocking around the same paths day in and day out.

Places where I’ve driven *myself *in the past year (not including trips by airline):
-Colorado (camping and offroading in my truck)
-Santa Fe (sightseeing)
-California (central valley and wine country)
-Arizona (sightseeing, traversing)
-Arkansas (deer and hog hunting, offroad exploring in UTV)
-Lake Texoma island camping and fishing
-Mission Tejas (eastern TX, hiked part of the old El Camino Real)
-San Antonio (sightseeing)
-Mineral Wells TX (wanted to see and buy some Crazy Water)
-Abilene TX (sightseeing)
-El Paso TX (sightseeing)
-Bridgeport TX (towed UTV for offroading)

I find it unimaginable that you only wander around those few city blocks. But diff’rent strokes, I guess. :slight_smile:

59

The Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) just came out with a report saying that there is a significant decline in young people buying cars. Reasons listed are:

  • Young people tend to live in towns, so don’t need them.
  • Cars are no longer cool, phones are the new status symbols. (There is less interest in brands and also in driving fast.)
  • Unemployment and credit crunch. This is not expected to improve when the economy improves, it is thought there will be more rental.
  • They wouldn’t use the car for travel & holidays, they take a cheap EasyJet flight.

I thought it was quite interesting. It certainly sounds right for my social circle. There is simply no interest in cars. Even those who do have a car are more likely to complain about it being a burden than to be proud of it.

60

Is Staten Island easier? Hm.