Cars. Ownership, efficiency, operation, and attitude.

[Bala Perdida]

Personally I don't really like cars, it bothers me seeing all the wasteful machines crowd the streets when I go outside. I use to force myself to have an opinion about favorite cars and such around friends, but I just don't care for them much and never did.

Ownership for me seems pretty over-glorified and unnecessary to me in many cases. I know a lot of people who own a car, that have little to no actual use for it. I even know some people that have multiple cars they rarely use. They could easily go without it, and having it around seems to pose an economic burden on them. Here in California, insurance is mandatory for a car owner, which takes a heavy tool on people. I feel like sharing cars could be an easy solution, but with ownership being over-glorified and people worried about paying for someone else's mistakes, not to many people are up for that. I would lend out the car I use, but it's not exactly mine so I can't do that.

As for efficiency, there is some innovation leading to cars that use little to no fuel, but most of the cars on the road are wasteful pollution machines. They are also increasingly hard to maintain, and I'm pretty sure are built to fail in order to feed the service industry. What bothers me the most is how much resources they take up, and how disposable people seem to think they are. It might just be a western thing, but there's this long running tradition of having a first car, upgrading after 4/5 years then upgrading every 10 years. Around then, people think it's easier and cheaper to buy a new car instead of maintaining one. For all I know, they might be right. Just another flaw in the system I guess.

Recently there have been experiments by Google and Hyundai (I think) to make self driving cars. I think that would be a great step up from our current situation. Cars are relatively simple to operate, but I don't even trust myself to do it. Also you have things like drunk driving, etc. I see self-driving cars as a way to solve problems with urban driving, but for anything off-road human control is necessary. It would just be best to limit this as much as possible (human operation, that is).

My overall attitude about cars is that they suck. I have recently found myself using a car frequently, and I feel bad and unusual about it. I wish I wouldn't have to, but for now it's the cheapest and most convenient method of getting to work. I basically only use it for that. Still, that huge machine for one fucking person? I just don't feel right. Something that is usually a valued luxury, is for me a feeling of awkward guilt. Hopefully, I can get a job closer to home and cut down on my car usage, but until then I guess I'll have to get used to it. I hope one day, that the majority of cars are taken off the road. Today, I don't see that happening but I think it's something we should strive for.

So how do the rest of you feel about cars? I don't mean to guilt anyone, but I just don't like the fact that I've become what I hate.

[LiaSofia]

I don't think cars themselves are the problem. IMO the problem is the over use of cars, the fact that families (both parents and their children) often have their own cars rather than sharing one. If cars could run more efficiently without polluting the environment then of course that would be a huge improvement. That said, I still wish people used cars less frequently and relied more on alternatives (bicycles, trains, trams, buses). I mean, if you expect people to not use cars so much then you have to provide an alternative.

I also strongly support 'pedestrian zones' in city centres. I hate the idea that towns are built around cars and roads. I think it would be wonderful if town centres were all people-centred, with pavement instead of road, and more places where you can walk without coming across traffic.

I've never been able to afford a car so I don't have this dilemma yet. But I have to say that walking 3-4 miles to school and back was nowhere near as much trouble as you'd think it would be.

[Ro Laren]

My parents are car people and I grew up around muscle cars and hot rods. I personally don't have a lot of interest in it, but I see the appeal and appreciate nice cars.

I don't really care that much about pollution. Not that I don't acknowledge that its a problem, but I feel like my bumming rides of everyone all the time or driving a fucking Prius is about as effective as holding in all my farts in terms of reducing pollution. What am I supposed to do? I'd love to be able to take public transportation, but I live in a somewhat rural area and that's never going to happen.

I kind of doubt driverless cars will ever come to fruition, outside of use in specific areas, since it would require vast improvements to public infrastructure. I know I already trust the computerized systems in my car with my life and that it's not really that much of a leap to let the car drive for me, but I still hate the idea. I'd rather take the bus.

[Red Economist]

I'm not in a position to drive as I get anxious behind the wheel because of unrelated personal problems. But personally, I don't see a problem with having 'one' car as long as it is for the utility of it. Having more than one car, or owning a car purely for the purposes of conspicuous consumption seems a bit 'off'. (As a status symbol I totally 'get it'; I've watched Top Gear, and like seeing them piss around on the challenges and stuff; anyone for an amphibious car?). But surely the money could be better spent elsewhere?

I think environmentally speaking, the real issue is how we go beyond personal transportation without fossil fuels, but I don't know how that will turn out. Admittedly the production processes are going to be energy intensive and so it's probably not a good thing to have too many on the road, even before you get to traffic problems. I enjoy using public transport when I get the opportunity and I don't have problems on it. I'm in a rural area, but there is a bus route than runs past my house and usually very few people on it. Personally, I like trains, but that's my inner child talking. :grin:

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I think we all think cars were initially a good idea. Yes? Cool but now I think they've become an inefficient means of transport, not to mention insanely dangerous and ecologically toxic. It's a pretty contributor to climate change. I think the whole way we transport our lazy asses should be reexamined. This all being said, I really like the idea of a series of tubes like Futurama. Or what's with teleportation? Like the beam me up stuff you know, why can't we just start finding that instead of how to revamp hoopties and jalopies?

[Sewer Socialist]

I have actually bought my first car very recently after only getting around via bicycle for my entire adult life (except the times where i have borrowed one / shared a ride to visit another town, go to a natural area, move into a new house, etc). I still ride my bike to work, the grocery store, etc. and only use the car occasionally on weekends.

I've had a pretty easy time getting around large cities via bicycle, but I am also a young able-bodied athletic type.

I've never used public transit much, but every city I've lived in has neglected public transit and chosen to prioritize auto traffic. The biggest problem with public transit is its inability to access rural areas. I like visiting forests, mountains, etc. which is always impossible with public transit. Even Portland, a city with a large transit system and very near many national and state forests, has no public transit options for such areas.

I don't actually like cars, but I find them useful for longer trips.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I don't think cars should be a primary means of transportation, and I think far too many cities have been designed to serve cars rather than the people who live in them.

Having said that, driving can be fun and so I reckon cars should become mainly vehicles for sports and leisure.

[MedwayMarxist]

They are also increasingly hard to maintain, and I'm pretty sure are built to fail in order to feed the service industry. What bothers me the most is how much resources they take up, and how disposable people seem to think they are. It might just be a western thing, but there's this long running tradition of having a first car, upgrading after 4/5 years then upgrading every 10 years. Around then, people think it's easier and cheaper to buy a new car instead of maintaining one. For all I know, they might be right. Just another flaw in the system I guess.


It's a shame you're American because there was a show on BBC recently that exposed this planned obsolescence in the car industry (amongst other industries). It also revealed how the industry adapted its selling techniques to encourage people to 'upgrade' their cars continuously. It was called The Men Who Made Us Spend, you might be able to find it on the internet somewhere.

On the subject of this thread... I like cars. They are useful and I do not really see any problem with ownership if you need one. My only concern is with the environmental impact of them and the reluctance of the powers to properly invest in making them more sustainable.

[VCrakeV]

I really dislike the idea of cars as well, although they are practical and necessary for me sometimes. I'll hop in a car if I need to get somewhere in town quicker than in an hour, or if I need to go out of town (I only go when my mother drives out anyway), but other than that, I just walk everywhere.

I haven't bothered learning how to drive, mainly because I dislike the inefficiency and pollution of cars, but also because I feel like I'd be a horrible driver, and I have poor balance, which means I can't ride a bicycle. I've tried too many times. When I move away (I'm still just a high school graduate) I'll be in a larger, more urban city, so I'll be relying on public transport. I might get a skateboard if that helps, but I'm not sure if that would even be much better than walking.

I honestly hope that public transport just takes over. Subways, buses, trams, etc. If it happens, it'll be a while though. It takes a long time for such a paradigm shift to happen, and politicians aren't radical enough to make the decisions to make such a shift. Speaking of which, I was playing Democracy 3 and just completely banned cars. If you haven't played it.... Download it now!

By the way, I'm totally up for Futurama-like travel tubes, but that won't happen for a LONG time, if at all.

[Skyhilist]

Well I mean if you're going to a rural area for a backpacking trip or something you often need a car. In an ideal world, public taxis would drop you off there, but then again, you might still need a car when you were leaving if you had no phone service in that area. However, cars generally shouldn't be needed for the majority of the distances that someone travels. Ideally there should be things like high speed monorails going in between towns/cities, run on some type of sustainable fuel and not emitting CO2. Things like this take a while to get any traction under capitalism unfortunately...

[L.A.P.]

I'm very much a car enthusiast. I love Japanese sports cars. However, I do agree that the way the geography of the suburbs especially revolve around necessitating personal cars is illogical. I think it goes along with the overall irrational development of suburbia for the sake of luxury and seclusion over efficiency. Such as when I have to unnecessarily drive around to the front entrance of a gated community, rather than cut across it due to the walls propped up to exclude "outsiders".