does anyone else hate to drive?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve lived inside the Beltway for a few months shy of four years, and spent four years in college in Rhode Island before then. In DC, I’ve always relied upon Metro - in Rhode Island, RITPA sufficed for my (admittedly limited) trips to Providence.

I never really liked to drive, and sometime over the past few years I’ve come to realize that I genuinely detest it. To me, it combines all the fun of being trapped in a small and odd-smelling room with the boredom of traffic and an exciting risk of injury or death. Not for me.

I’ve never owned a car, I don’t want one, and I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life as a non-driver. Do any other Dopers feel the same way?

2

I love driving but I hate commuting by car.

Cruising around on vacation is awesome however.

3

If you grew up in DC, it’s no wonder you don’t like cars. They don’t represent freedom here, they represent imprisonment. I’d wager that it’s not the car you hate- it’s the traffic. And yes, I (and everyone) hate traffic.

I’ve never loathed the thought of a car trip more than when I moved to DC. It’s absolutely soul-crushing. If you lived out in a low-population suburb where there is no traffic or public transit, you’d have a higher appreciation of the freedom that driving brings.

4

I hate driving as well, unfortunately, where I live it is pretty much a requirement. I would absolutely love to not have a car and just depent on my feet, bicycle and mass transit. For a short time I was able to take the bus to work and I really like it.

One reason I have always gone for small cars is if we go out as a group I would usually not have to drive.

For a short time, I considered moving to New York or Chicago since they have a decent mass transit system. Unfortunately, with the cost of living and weather I would not have been happy there.

I do live in the suburbs and I drive to work against the traffic but still find it soul-crushing. I feel chained to car payments, insurance, maintenence and just the headaches of owning a car. Freedom would be getting out from under that yolk and not end up being a hermit because there are no other viable options for moving around.

5

I hate driving and would switch to teleporters when available. until then I’d rather drive than walk.

6

I hate to drive even though I grew up in Los Angeles where driving is a necessity, and even though I now have a daily commute by car of about 40 minutes each way in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I wish I could arrange my life to drive less, but it just seems impossible. I wouldn’t want to give up my great job in the suburbs.

7

I hate it.

But I love it when other people chauffer me around, though.

8

My car represents transportation that is available on-demand and has no restrictions as to the final destination or time of operation. I directly control the heater, air conditioner and the radio. I am not disturbed by panhandlers, people on cell phones, and people with colds. I have the ability to haul stuff around up to 10 feet long. The trailer hitch allows me to tow heavy objects with ease or move 4 bikes to a bike trail.

I would hate waiting in the snow, sleet or rain for a vehicle that is a constant reminder for the need to pick up disinfectant at the store. At best, on a good day I would be holding either a briefcase or an armful of groceries that I have to maneuver on and off the vehicle.

I’ve never driven past a bus stop that had a group of people that looked happy to be standing there. In fact, on the rare occasion that I’ve picked up a passenger from a stop who is waiting in snow, they seemed quite happy for the ride.

9

Me me me me me.

I hate driving. I’d much rather be reading.

I grew up in the DC area, too, interestingly enough. I’ve lived in other places, and I’ve driven in low-traffic conditions. I’d still rather be reading or daydreaming.

I have nightmares about getting in an accident and having it be my fault. I’m always extremely relieved when I realize those were dreams. I don’t generally enjoy being in control, because that means I have a chance to screw things up. I’d rather be in a plane, where, if anything bad happens, at least it isn’t my fault.

My dreams in which I’m driving are almost uniformly bad, come to think of it. There’s the one where I cause an accident, and there’s the one where I’m driving a car but it’s out of control. There’s the one where I’m supposed to be somewhere at a particular time, and I can’t find it, so I’m driving around and around- often, I can see it, but I can’t figure out how to get to it. And then there’s the one where I drive off a cliff, just like that scene in Groundhog Day (that rather bothered me in the movie…) I don’t know what that says- probably that I don’t like driving.

I don’t even like riding in a car on a winding road, since I tend to get motion sick. I don’t mind riding in a car on a freeway, though.

Mr. Neville hates driving probably even more than I do, and amazingly has even less confidence in his driving skills than I have in mine (I didn’t think that was possible until I met him), so I end up doing most of the driving. Every time we’ve looked for a place to live, though, it has had to be somewhere where we don’t have to drive everywhere.

We don’t take long road trips- if it would be more than about four hours, we fly. I’m not a germophobe- I figure, if there’s something going around, I’m going to get it and there’s not much I can do about it other than get a flu shot. The bus therefore does not make me think of disinfectant. I never really care about being around people with colds- colds just aren’t a big deal unless you have some sort of immune system problem, which I don’t. Yeah, they kind of suck, but so do lots of things.

I hate looking for parking. I’m not terribly good at maneuvering in tight conditions, so there are some parking spaces available that I’ll never be able to get. I can parallel park, but not as well as most people.

Taking the bus to the grocery store does suck, though. I’ll give you that one.

10

Even with commuting 40 miles each way, even with the million little annoyances that attend owning and parking a car in Manhattan, even with the pain in the butt and expense of car ownership (I try not to make it too expensive), I still enjoy driving by and large. I couldn’t wait to get my license when I was teenager. When I was in Colorado, I’d go out driving alone for 6-7 hours just to see the sights. When it’s a nice day out at work, I’ll hop in the car at lunchtime and go for a quick breezy spin around the leafy NJ 'burbs where I work just to enjoy the outside a little. I don’t particularly ‘enjoy’ driving to work or driving back into the city in the evening (beyond getting back home to my family), but I don’t dread it, either. It’s what I have to do. I find ways (music, radio, audiobooks) to keep myself entertained. There’s something special about a moving car and music (any kind, really).

When I worked in the city, I enjoyed not having to drive, too, BTW. I’m easy to please.

11

I can’t stand driving, so much that I don’t even want to write about it anymore.

12

For anyone who doesn’t have driving as an option - don’t you get tired of being at the mercy of someone else’s schedule? Whether it be waiting on mass transit or waiting for someone with a car to pick you up…doesn’t it feel like a loss of independence?

Granted, I am not very familiar with always-running-every-few-minutes bus and train schedules. The further you get from large population, the longer you have to wait for a bus. Or the more you have to pay (and wait) for a cab. If you’re out in my town, where there are technically busses, if you wait too long you’re screwed.

I’ve found myself walking miles around town to catch a train because the train service to the place I was at stopped at midnight or something. I couldn’t imagine having to plan my life around all that mess.

13

Eh- drivers are at the mercy of someone else’s schedule, too. You don’t try to drive downtown at 5pm, because there’s too much traffic. Or I don’t drive to places where it’s too hard to find parking.

14

I hate driving and do it as little as possible. I only have a drivers license currently because my SO insisted I help drive on a vacation a few years ago. Before that I had let it expire and didn’t bother renewing because I never needed it.

15

For a brief time when I was in school, I didn’t need a car, though I did have my old one that was paid off. I rarely drove it. Everywhere I needed to go, I could get there by walking or my bicycle. Many times a group of us decided to go somewhere and everyone loaded up in their cars while I got my bike. I constantly got comments, “hey, we could have taken you.” They truly were amazed that I had a car and chose not to drive it and doubly when I ended up beating them to the destination that was a couple miles away.

I didn’t feel like I lost my independence. In fact, I had more, if there were road problems, accidents etc, it was far easier to find an alternate route.

16

It’s not safe to drive if you’ve been drinking, or if you’re too tired. Those things don’t matter if someone else is doing the driving, though.

If someone else drives, I can get somewhere without having to figure out how to get there. Navigation is not my strong suit.

You have to sit up and pay attention to what’s going on around you while you’re driving. There are those of us who’d rather sit in a more comfortable position and think about other stuff. ETA: What’s going on around me is usually pretty boring, anyway.

17

I love driving. Despite having a 35 mile one-way commute, I usually spend most of my lunch hour driving around as well just for fun. I got my new vehicle about 6 months ago and it already has 5000 miles on it. If I was ever forced into the blue-collar sector, I think I would make a good cross-country truck driver.

18

I’ve lived in and around DC my whole life. I don’t mind driving around the city at all. Worked as a courier at one point and even considered becoming a taxi driver. The traffic really doesn’t bother me.

What I find odd is when I travel to other cities and the streets seem bizarrely deserted to me. My sister lives in Atlanta and every time I go there I’m astounded at the (relatively)low volume of traffic and the ease of parking downtown.

19

I did two six-year stints working in NYC (where I live). I switched between subway, bus, walking, and biking. Mostly I took the bus. Even if I had to wait a few extra minutes I knew which buses to get on, where to sit, etc. so I could relax and read. I felt no loss of independance. I felt more independance, since I wasn’t shackled to a specific mode of transportation. I could go any way I liked (“It’s a nice evening, I think I’ll walk home tonight”). And of course like most things in NYC, vehicular independance can be had for a price - that of a cab fare.

20

Quite the opposite. For the few years that I had a car, I felt like a prisoner to it. Parking was never easy, I was constantly feeding it what little money I had (in repair bills, insurance, gas, and parking tickets), and it was just one more thing I had to worry about. When I changed jobs to one where I could take the train, my car just sat there. It sat for 6 months. I finally sold it, and felt incredibly liberated.