Do you drive?

Can you drive?

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We have had a hot bus chat thread, and was wondering can you drive?

I have been driving for around 25 years, and enjoy driving. I live a few miles out from any real civilisation, and have no transport links where I live so it is handy for me to drive. I enjoy driving but would probably say I am a competent, rather than great driver.
 
I love driving. Hated it when I first started lessons in 1987 then stopped again. Started lessons again in 2000 and still hated it but passed my test. Over the years since I've grown to love it. Whilst there are buses aplenty that will get me to work in the morning I'd have to leave the house by 7.45 am and there's no still guarantee I'd arrive by 9am which is ridiculous as my work is only about 6 miles away. By driving and using the dual-carriageway (which our buses don't use) it takes me roughly twenty-five minutes to get to work in term time or less than fifteen minutes in school holidays. I consider myself a good driver, I'm very aware of everything around me and don't like passengers who talk to me. I am a sweary Mary when driving and I'm constantly judging the poor driving skills of other drivers.
 
I've just driven. How exciting. It's not 100% a necessity but wouldn't be able to get to half as many places with out a car.

I'll be driving in Canada next year too. Ooh
 
I passed my test on Valentines Day in 2014. I'd been learning off and on for about 18 months previous to that with big gaps, and a bit around 10 years beforehand but I never stuck to it. In the end my dad passing away gave me the kick I needed to finally sort it out, as I was given his 1 year old car and my mum doesn't drive so I pretty much had to.

I used to drive to work in my old job, but my current job is in the city centre. I could park for free at Mr K's work round the corner but the traffic is just so bad in the city that it is far quicker for me to get there by train, and much less stressful too. I've done it before and it can take 45 minutes when door to door on the train is 20. So I don't drive much, occasionally during the week and then at the weekend, but never really that far. Hence the 7 year old car I have has about 15000 miles on it, and that includes one trip to Ireland and one to London!
 
I do drive, but apart from when I've moved around or a few trips outside the city I haven't had to drive in France. In Lebanon I drive a lot more coz public transport isn't as efficient. Not having to drive makes me appreciate driving a lot more.
 
Indie said:
I've just driven. How exciting. It's not 100% a necessity but wouldn't be able to get to half as many places with out a car.

I'll be driving in Canada next year too. Ooh
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I drove in Canada last year. Figuring out the highway system wasn't that easy.
 
Also, I'm an automatic car driver all the way. I don't care what you're going to say about it not being REAL driving, manual cars are a pain in the arse.
 
I've been learning to drive on and off since 2015. I can drive no bother its when I do my test it all goes to shit. I panic, swear A LOT, panic even more and then fail on one serious but daft thing.
 
'I don't want to drive' feels as if it's pushing it a little, in as much as life would be a lot easier if I did a lot of the time. But as I never have bothered to learn beyond 6 lessons or whatever it was, clearly I don't want to THAT much.
 
I drove all the time in New Zealand. It was an absolute necessity because I lived in the suburbs and Auckland is spread out as fuck.

But now I no longer drive because I live within walking distance to my work and I live in the city which means the train is hundreds times better than any other car.

Also I can't be bothered learning to drive on the other side of the road and then paying for a car, insurance, parking etc when the public transport here is amazing.
 
I really don’t want or need to. My mum only learned to drive once she had two kids and that was the only reason. She’s just sold her car as she doesn’t want it anymore now she has a Freedom pass and lives in an area served brilliantly by public transport.

I get a free Oyster card through work so I don’t pay for buses or tubes. There’s nowhere for me to park if I did have a car and the added expense for having one just isn’t worth it. The traffic and pollution where I live is completely unacceptable and I don’t wish to contribute to it.
 
I’ve never needed to and don’t have a desire to but I do feel a little embarrassed for some reason when I have to tell someone as a fully grown male that I don’t drive.
 
I'm kind of over telling people, really. I just let them assume I have epilepsy or something.
 
Mr F doesn't drive. He had lessons and was almost ready to do his test but he had a disagreement with his instructor and just binned it off. Although it's a ballache sometimes having to do all of the driving I know that if he did pass his test I'd never allow him to drive my car and certainly never allow him to drive me around.

I'm a very nervous passenger and choose to sit in the back of any car I'm a passenger in otherwise I find myself pumping my imaginary brake. I've had to make a conscious effort to let the spawn drive us places when she comes round, not because she's a crappy driver - she really isn't, but because I know she thinks that me driving everywhere means I don't trust her when in actual fact I just don't trust anybody.
 
Ag said:
I am quite agog that less of Moopy actively drive!
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Me too.

It’s also a fucking ballache being one half of a relationship with someone who doesn’t drive.
 
I never learned to drive - the age when most people seem to get lessons (late teens) happened to coincide with my worst period of being clinically fed-up, and I was barely able to leave the house at that point so a car was out of the question :tongueout: After that I never really felt the urge to learn, and I've always been lucky enough to live in areas with good public transport links so it hasn't really been a concern.
 
Yeah it would be interesting to see which environments Moopsters grew up in and then compare it with this poll.
 
I was knocking 30 when I determined that I had to drive and pass my test and it all came about because of a horrific trip from Hemel to Manchester on a Virgin Train with a six year old daughter, luggage, and the two seats that I'd booked for us being in a non-existent carriage so we had to sit in the gap between carriages for the whole four-hour journey.

As a child my mum learned to drive when I was 10 and my dad when I was 14. Because we were relatively poor my mum used to do the oil changes and services herself which is probably where I get my love of mechanical things from because I was allowed to help. None of my grandparents drove except for one grandad who drove the number 90 bus but he died when I was 4 so doesn't really count. The other grandad could drive but never did after he came home from WW2 for reasons he took to his grave with him. Most families didn't have cars when I was young but public transport was much more reliable, frequent and cheaper than it is today so we got the bus or train everywhere.
 
Floppet said:
Because we were relatively poor my mum used to do the oil changes and services herself which is probably where I get my love of mechanical things from because I was allowed to help.
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That is so cute. I love stuff like that. Go mum.
 
Mr M has offered to give me a driver's license for Christmas so I can drive him around, the SELFISH COW

we absolutely do not need a car/to drive in our daily life but we might cottage in the country and it would be handy abroad. heck, we might even end up in JUTLAND *shudders*
 
the prospect of getting one is making me quite anxious though :D I guess it would've been better as a fearless teenager...
 
I think a big part of my problem is that I was always full of fear as a teenager. And it's just got worse.
 
Mine is that I’m a horrendously impatient pedestrian. I daren’t think about what my road rage would be like. Plus my dad taught both my brother and my mum to drive. I’m convinced that was the catalyst to the breakdown of their relationships so I just said no when he offered.
 
Well there's that as well. I've.often thought I don't know how I'd cope after a day at work where my mind is just fucked.

I mean I suppose you just LEARN to cope, but at my age I doubt I'm capable any more.
 
I drive but I don't particularly enjoy it. I think that's partly down to London traffic though. We bought an automatic car for the first time this year, I didn't think I would like it but now I hate driving the manual car
 
lolly said:
Well there's that as well. I've.often thought I don't know how I'd cope after a day at work where my mind is just fucked.

I mean I suppose you just LEARN to cope, but at my age I doubt I'm capable any more.
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I hate the drive after work for the nursery pick up because I'm in traffic and against the clock. That's my most stressful drive.
 
Driving just makes things easier - doing a bigger food shop, going to visit friends/family who live elsewhere, and there’s the freedom you have of deciding to go out for the day, etc. I’m not sure I could do back to driving to work every day but it also means that I have more options for jobs should I have to. Plus I think it also opens more opportunities for you. I don’t have to worry about how a company’s location is serviced by public transport.

I suppose if you live in the centre of a city close to work then there’s no need to, but I think people are missing out on a lot. There’s something about just going out in the car and just going wherever you feel like that is exhilarating. Sure I could do the same by taking buses, trains, etc but it’s quicker, cheaper and I don’t have to share the same close space as other people.
 
How is not owning a car more expensive? We don't have to pay for a vehicle / fuel / parking / insurance / MOTs etc.

I can't think of a single benefit to driving as a person in a city who doesn't have kids or do a regular long distance commute. Not having a car incentivises me to walk short-medium distances, I can be virtually anywhere in West Yorkshire within 30 minutes using the buses or the trains, and I can get pissed whenever/wherever I want without having to worry about driving home.
 
KindaCool said:
Has anyone here never driven?
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Me.

Wasn't really interested as a teenager, haven't really been interested as an adult. If I had stayed in my dormitory hometown, I would have had to learn, but I live in a city with great public transport, and the PLANET IS DYING, so learning when I don't need to seems unnecessary.

Also, and I can't stress this enough, I'm poor.
 
I can think of plenty of benefits of driving. I mean sure I can still live my life without it, but I can't deny the life I have isn't compromised by not driving.
 
lolly said:
I can think of plenty of benefits of driving. I mean sure I can still live my life without it, but I can't deny the life I have isn't compromised by not driving.
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Well OK, no benefits was an exaggeration, but certainly none that outweigh the benefits I feel from not driving - in terms of money, my physical health and ability to feel smug about my carbon footprint (see also: Childlessness).

The only times when it slightly bothers me are when I'm travelling to areas that aren't well served by public transport, but that's usually only for weddings or similar events where I can grab a lift with somebody. Virtually everywhere in the UK has at least a train station or a bus stop within a couple of miles these days.
 
VoR said:
Virtually everywhere in the UK has at least a train station or a bus stop within a couple of miles these days.
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I don't really believe that. Or at least it could literally take me all day to travel to places by bus/coach/train that I could drive to in a couple of hours.
 
Where though, that you'd want to visit more than once or twice a year, tops?

I do a lot of walking/hiking, so if you mean nice country spots I actually enjoy building a day around getting places like that. If I just drove there and back, I'd feel like I'd missed half the experience.

I genuinely don't think I've ever been in a situation where not being able to drive has prevented me from getting somewhere.
 
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