Anyone afraid of Driving? (1 Viewer)

[Francois Caron]

I live in Montreal where we have a subway system along with extensive bus routes. My subway station is only seven minutes walking distance from my home. So my travels are mostly via BMW i.e. Bus-Metro-Walk.

I do have a license and I'm not afraid of driving, HOWEVER I have no central vision in my right eye which means seeing anything to the right of me can be a bit difficult. And because only one eye works properly, I have no 3D vision. Distances can be a bit hard to judge at times.

Anyone needs a lift somewhere? Mmmuaahahahahahaaa!!!

 

[JeremyErwin]

I suppose the most basic criterion for a car free lifestyle is:

Are the bus stops within a few blocks? Is the service available throughout the day, or only twice a day (for commuters)? Bonus points for easy access to a subway system.

Urbanization has advantages.

 

[Scott L]

I love driving

 

[Jason Seaver]

Cambridge, MA. The bus ride out to Waltham is longer than I'd like, but it gives me an hour and a half per day to read and write.

I chose where I lived specifically to not have to drive. Filthy, wasteful things, automobiles.

 

[Matt Birchall]

Car is king, where I'm from. Here in OKC, you pretty much have to have a car to function in society. We're one of the most-spread-out cities in the country, and mass transit is a joke. I think the closest bus stop to me is at least three or four miles away.

I'd like to try living in a more-urban place for a while, just to see what it's like not having a car, and all that goes with it, and to get around on my own using the subways and buses and whatnot.

Still, there's something to be said for just being able to jump in your car, and to go wherever the hell you want to go, whenever you want. Very liberating.

 

[James T]

I'm not afraid of driving, I'm afraid of crashing.
My driving is not the best(ie. easily distracted, not looking far ahead on the road, etc), but it gets me from point A to point B.

One of my uncle's co-workers is terrified of driving that she won't make left turns. She'll drive one block further, just so she could make 3-right turns to make up for the one left turn.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

I am the opposite, I am overly careful about my driving when I have passengers. You need to drive with a certain amount of aggressiveness while driving in busy downtown and rush hour situations, and I'm fine when I'm the only one in the car. But when I have passengers I feel like my hands are tied.

 

[AlyssaAnders]

Overall I am not scared to drive most days. But I do have days of purnervousness especially when I am driving on 95 and people are whizzing past me. I just moved from down near Miami and that is the worst anxiety attack ever, driving in Miami. I don't miss it at ALL.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Neil,

In the past I've had years-long bouts of panic attacks and anxiety disorders which made me extremely fearful of driving, very disconcerting as I am an auto mechanic by trade and must do a lot of it. Oddly it didn't make me drive slower or more cautiously but in fact made me a chronic tailgater and speeder as I could hardly wait to get to my destination and get the hell out of the car where it would be safe for me to go ahead and have the heart attack or stroke or whatever I was sure I was having.

Fortunately these attacks and my anxiety disorders gradually started to subside about 25 years ago co-incidental with my giving up drinking. I am now quite comfortable driving (in fact enjoy it very much) and also am a much more considerate and moderate driver.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Mylan, I live in Atlanta but I live and work intown (Virginia-Highland neighborhood). I live about two miles from work and everything I need is conveniently located close to me. I do pay more to live here than I would in the 'burbs but that's the way I want it. I may pay more for this convenience but I don't have that "suburban gut" that everyone OTP (outside the perimeter) seems to have.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

there's no way i'd be able to use public transportation all the time, i need a car. i wish there were trains and buses that went everywhere, but it's not dense enough around here to get everywhere i need to go.

about driving, i love it. i'd love to drive aggressively on the twisties, but i don't, because i don't trust other drivers. i know i'm an above average driver, but i also know there are LOTS of bad ones

CJ

 

[Trey Fletcher]

But yet, you take the bus. Makes perfect sense. Not.

Personally, I love driving. Not the bumper-to-bumper, rush hour traffic kind of driving. But I find scenic drives during the weekends, or other such road trips relaxing. Not having a car and being able to get anywhere I need to go, on my schedule, would drive me crazy. And outside of a few select locations, I think it would be supremely difficult for a family of four to function without car.

 

[DeathStar1]

Fortunately these attacks and my anxiety disorders gradually started to subside about 25 years ago co-incidental with my giving up drinking. I am now quite comfortable driving (in fact enjoy it very much) and also am a much more considerate and moderate driver.>>>

Heh, thankfully this dosen't apply to me, as I've never touched a drop of alchohol in my life

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i think youre missing the point of a bus. it carries the same amount of people as 20 cars, with much less pollution. it's not like he said he rides the bus by himself.

 

[Trey Fletcher]

I'm not missing the point at all. My car is an automobile. The bus is an automobile. Not only that, buses are harder on roads due to their weight and their constant starting/stopping, and they are more polluting that a fleet of cars.

"According to numbers from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Union of Concerned Scientists (an environmental advocacy group based in Cambridge, Mass.), a modern diesel transit bus puts out over half a ton of smog-creating chemicals every year. Mile for mile, the bus pollutes nearly 60 times more than a new passenger car like a Ford Taurus or a Nissan Sentra. Think about that the next time you're sanctimoniously looking down from your perch on the 72 express at the soccer mom driving alone in the next lane."

I don't need the EPA to tell me that. Just watch a bus pull away from a stop, and the ensuing black could is evidence enough. Not to mention, those things run all day whether 1 person, or 20 is on them.

Don't get me wrong. Buses have their place. But they're not any better for the enviroment than other types of automobiles.

Anyway, I'm not afraid of driving.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

The fleet of busses here are being converted to natural gas which is much better on the environment than cars.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

many cities are quickly moving to biodiesel in their fleet, which will dramatically reduce pollution. also, if there were no buses, there could be (potentially) be up to 20 cars on the road for every missing bus. this would lead to traffic congestion, and therefore slower traffic, and more idling. that's stretching it as an assumption, but when comparing cars to buses, how much they individually polute is not the only issue.

since more than half of all cars sold are trucks or SUVs, comparing it to a compact car and a mid-size sedan isn't fair, since those classes represent the minority of new cars sold in this country.

CJ

 

[MarkHastings]

That's exactly how I feel as well.

And where I live, a car is necessary. I respect and admire those who can live without one, but I'm truly insulted that you feel (somehow) 'superior' than those who drive cars. :frowning:

I leave my home at 7:30am and get home at 7:30pm (during the week). That's not exactly hell, but if I didn't have car, those times would be even worse. It already sucks not being able to do a whole hell of a lot druing the week (because of the above times), so I'm not about to lose my means of transportation. And on the weekend, if I didn't have a car, I wouldn't go anywhere. There are no buses, no taxis, and no trains in my neck of the woods. The supermarket is miles away and there's no real easy way (without a car) to get to any of these shopping places. I find much of my shopping is in stores that are at least 5 towns away. There's no way in hell that I'm walking 20 miles to Home Depot and carrying a workbench back on my shoulders.

My brother lives in the same town, and by car, it's a 15 minute drive. I can't even start to imagine how long that walk would be.

And I don't even want to discuss my 50 mile commute to work.

If a car isn't a necessity, then yes it's best not to have one, but if a car IS a necessity, then it's almost "life threatening" not to own one.

 

[JeremyErwin]

mark, not everyone can ditch their car. Often it requires living in the right place, or developing strange navigational techniques, or learning to hike. Sometimes there's a sense of accomplishment there.

 

[WadeLil]

Believe it or not but people like you are gonna better off than most in the coming years.Lets just say you are where most people will struggle to get to.