You don’t have to drive, you can take the bus, ride a bike, use taxis/rideshares, etc. Plenty of people get around without a car. My area is pretty poor for carless living, yet I did it for a few years.
Car insurance is to protect others from you, and a lot of it is due to medical costs and lawsuits. Without insurance, one accident would financially ruin you and the person you hit, so it’s a good thing people are required to have it to drive on public roads.
Every time I see a comment like this, I want to beat the poster mercilessly with public transit maps for cities like Houston, Jacksonville, Phoenix, etc. until they realize what a stupid fucking suggestion that is for millions of people.
Yea sure, just walk 5 miles in 100+ degree heat to the nearest bus stop for the bus which comes every 50 minutes and will drop you off 5 miles away from your destination. So easy!
I used to bike to/from work ~10 miles, and in the summer it gets 100+ on my way home. Sometimes I would take the bus because it was too hot. I get it, it’s not convenient in many parts of the country.
However, you do have options. You can move closer to transit, move to a different city, etc. There are options if you want to make living carless a priority.
When I switched jobs, going carless was not a priority, so I ended up driving to my new job. I could have moved closer, dealt w/ a long (2+ hour each way) commute, or gotten an e-bike to make it feasible to ride the 25-ish miles to work. I made the conscious choice to drive, because it was a better fit for my family.
Victim mentality is destructive, reframing things in terms of choices you can make is healthy. That’s what I’m getting at. It’s okay if you choose to have a car, but do know that it is a choice.
Oh golly, you’re right. I forgot the option of packing up my entire life and moving cities simply so I can go carless. It’s not like I have any ties to my current location, and I definitely have the funds available to make such a move. My job is also happy to work with me on my relocation and will certainly accommodate my desire to not have a car by providing options, such as WFH or office transfers. Yep, moving sure is a perfectly reasonable option that anyone can just do without weeks/months of planning and no major impacts to their life that would be harder/more expensive than just driving a car.
People move for work all the time, and reducing the barrier to moving is one of the main perks of renting. Median job tenure is about 4 years, with a lot of people spending less time or significantly more time. You can move across town and keep your job if you like it, or you can apply to closer jobs if you prefer the area you live but want to have a more comfortable commute.
If you value a car-free lifestyle, plan for that the next time you move. ~2/3 of renters have been in their current place less than 5 years, and 1/4 have been there for less than 1 year, so most people will have plenty of opportunities to try something different. If you don’t value a car-free lifestyle, that’s fine too, just know that it’s a choice.
When I bought my house, my priorities included proximity to a bike trail so I would have the option to bike to work and close enough to a grocery store and the library to bike there as well, and I have made good use of it. My previous apartments were close to something I went to frequently (first and second were the city library and close enough to school, third was the grocery store and the freeway). There are more factors than just rent cost, and I really enjoy not having to use my car for every little trip. I could have gotten a bigger, nicer house for the same money, but I would have had a very different, very car-dependent lifestyle, and I didn’t want that. Likewise for when I rented an apartment, I could have saved a bit on rent by moving further away, but I decided that my lifestyle choice was more important.
It’s fine if you make different choices than me, just own that your lifestyle is a choice, instead of whining about transit not coming to you (general “you”, not you specifically).
Idk what country you are in, or where you live, but you are absolutely not required to drive a car to participate in society. A car is a luxury item, a privilege. Car companies have been brainwashing the public for a hundred years with pro-car propoganda so it may seem necessary but it definitely isn’t.
Trains, trams, busses, taxis, bikes, walking. These are all options available to pretty much everyone. No insurance required.
Now that I think of it, at least where I live the level of insurance you actually need to legally drive is included in your registration.
So maybe what you’re saying true for you and whatever area you live in, but it’s definitely not universally true
There are many cities in the US where it absolutely is required to have a car. Where trains, trams, busses, taxies, bikes, and walking are actually NOT available or feasible because the city does not have the infrastructure in place for them. Your comment comes across as incredibly privileged and ignorant of the reality many people face. And you can say, out of sheer ignorance, something like “well the people living there should change that!”. Sure. The single mom just trying to get her kids to school before getting herself to work everyday is going to get right on that.
Didn’t realise you were in the US. My apologies, and condolences. You guys have probably been hit the hardest with car dependency. Tbh I can’t even imagine what that’s like.
I think my comment stands for most of the developed world, but yeah, probably not the US
And if you don’t pay it you can’t legally drive a car. And if you can’t drive a car, you aren’t going to be hired for a job.
I repeat, YOU ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO GIVE A CORPORATION MONEY IN RETURN FOR NOTHING IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY
Car insurance is a fucking scam.
You don’t have to drive, you can take the bus, ride a bike, use taxis/rideshares, etc. Plenty of people get around without a car. My area is pretty poor for carless living, yet I did it for a few years.
Car insurance is to protect others from you, and a lot of it is due to medical costs and lawsuits. Without insurance, one accident would financially ruin you and the person you hit, so it’s a good thing people are required to have it to drive on public roads.
Every time I see a comment like this, I want to beat the poster mercilessly with public transit maps for cities like Houston, Jacksonville, Phoenix, etc. until they realize what a stupid fucking suggestion that is for millions of people.
Yea sure, just walk 5 miles in 100+ degree heat to the nearest bus stop for the bus which comes every 50 minutes and will drop you off 5 miles away from your destination. So easy!
I used to bike to/from work ~10 miles, and in the summer it gets 100+ on my way home. Sometimes I would take the bus because it was too hot. I get it, it’s not convenient in many parts of the country.
However, you do have options. You can move closer to transit, move to a different city, etc. There are options if you want to make living carless a priority.
When I switched jobs, going carless was not a priority, so I ended up driving to my new job. I could have moved closer, dealt w/ a long (2+ hour each way) commute, or gotten an e-bike to make it feasible to ride the 25-ish miles to work. I made the conscious choice to drive, because it was a better fit for my family.
Victim mentality is destructive, reframing things in terms of choices you can make is healthy. That’s what I’m getting at. It’s okay if you choose to have a car, but do know that it is a choice.
Oh golly, you’re right. I forgot the option of packing up my entire life and moving cities simply so I can go carless. It’s not like I have any ties to my current location, and I definitely have the funds available to make such a move. My job is also happy to work with me on my relocation and will certainly accommodate my desire to not have a car by providing options, such as WFH or office transfers. Yep, moving sure is a perfectly reasonable option that anyone can just do without weeks/months of planning and no major impacts to their life that would be harder/more expensive than just driving a car.
People move for work all the time, and reducing the barrier to moving is one of the main perks of renting. Median job tenure is about 4 years, with a lot of people spending less time or significantly more time. You can move across town and keep your job if you like it, or you can apply to closer jobs if you prefer the area you live but want to have a more comfortable commute.
If you value a car-free lifestyle, plan for that the next time you move. ~2/3 of renters have been in their current place less than 5 years, and 1/4 have been there for less than 1 year, so most people will have plenty of opportunities to try something different. If you don’t value a car-free lifestyle, that’s fine too, just know that it’s a choice.
When I bought my house, my priorities included proximity to a bike trail so I would have the option to bike to work and close enough to a grocery store and the library to bike there as well, and I have made good use of it. My previous apartments were close to something I went to frequently (first and second were the city library and close enough to school, third was the grocery store and the freeway). There are more factors than just rent cost, and I really enjoy not having to use my car for every little trip. I could have gotten a bigger, nicer house for the same money, but I would have had a very different, very car-dependent lifestyle, and I didn’t want that. Likewise for when I rented an apartment, I could have saved a bit on rent by moving further away, but I decided that my lifestyle choice was more important.
It’s fine if you make different choices than me, just own that your lifestyle is a choice, instead of whining about transit not coming to you (general “you”, not you specifically).
I mean, you could hold a few hundred thousand in a surety bond instead, but who can actually do that?
People who got paid a fair wage before wealth inequality spiraled lol
No it’s not, mandatory insurance of cars is there in case you do something, is it better if you get into accident and go bankrupt instead?
Agree about having to own a car but that’s a North America problem, even then there are some cities where you don’t need to own a car
Idk what country you are in, or where you live, but you are absolutely not required to drive a car to participate in society. A car is a luxury item, a privilege. Car companies have been brainwashing the public for a hundred years with pro-car propoganda so it may seem necessary but it definitely isn’t.
Trains, trams, busses, taxis, bikes, walking. These are all options available to pretty much everyone. No insurance required.
Now that I think of it, at least where I live the level of insurance you actually need to legally drive is included in your registration.
So maybe what you’re saying true for you and whatever area you live in, but it’s definitely not universally true
There are many cities in the US where it absolutely is required to have a car. Where trains, trams, busses, taxies, bikes, and walking are actually NOT available or feasible because the city does not have the infrastructure in place for them. Your comment comes across as incredibly privileged and ignorant of the reality many people face. And you can say, out of sheer ignorance, something like “well the people living there should change that!”. Sure. The single mom just trying to get her kids to school before getting herself to work everyday is going to get right on that.
Didn’t realise you were in the US. My apologies, and condolences. You guys have probably been hit the hardest with car dependency. Tbh I can’t even imagine what that’s like.
I think my comment stands for most of the developed world, but yeah, probably not the US