In relation to proposed new road tolling, some bloke on Radio 4 just said that “Not everyone is privileged position not to have to drive.”

I chose not to drive, and i certainly don’t feel privileged. I have to forgo stuff, and it restricts where i can live, shop. ride etc. which costs time and money. But it is my choice. Is having that choice the privilege?

Or is the bloke a numpty?

Many folk prioritize their job and so feel they have to take a certain job for pay etc even if it means they have to drive to it. I guess if you live in a large settlement it’s easier to not have to drive.

I would like very much not to have to drive. I don’t enjoy it; it upsets my “chi”. My job means that it’s an absolute must though, so the bloke has a point.

choice – of course, privilege – perhaps.

Is not driving a privilege?

It’s going to be for some, for others it would be a hardship, you just can’t generalise
I would happily never drive a car again but would cry for a week if I couldn’t ride motorbikes
I know of plenty of people that love cars and driving – so for them it would be a hardship

The trouble is, the current economic structure is built around a modern transport system. I live in the ‘commuter belt’, an area that was built around local industry during the turn of the last century. That indusrty, which employed around 25k people was shut down pretty much overnight, leaving us with the worst rate of unemployment in the country.

Loads of money was ploughed back in over the years, in an attempt to attract new business. And it never came. Instead, the area recovered despite all of this. People ventured further afield to look for work, and people even moved in with housing developments popping up on every corner…

And so we have a healthy thriving area with no industry of its own. I commute by both bike and car, but given the altitude, it makes it hard work. And I work on the closest possible edge of the city.

The modern world is built around the car. I’d happily take a job closer to home, and I’d take a pay cut for it, but there isn’t any.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of people who can cycle to work and choose not to. Because it’s not really in our culture to do so. But there are many that have little choice in the matter.

If the job you like, the trails you ride, the shops and the pub, your friends and family are all within walking or biking distance then you are indeed privileged.

I score quite highly on that list.

It’s the future.

Many folk prioritize their job and so feel they have to take a certain job for pay etc

There are many reasons to take a job. I could get a job in the city where I live and cycle 4 miles to work, but it would mean:

1) having to move to a tiny house in a shabbier part of town
2) my wife and kids not being able to see their family overseas
3) having to cut back on leisure trips etc – few visits to the zoo, different cities, castles, houses that kind of thing
4) few races or bike events (not that I get to do many lately anyway)
5) cut back on hobbies for me and the Mrs
6) be damned miserable all day because the job is utterly tedious and un-fulfulling, and because I’d have to stare at the same four walls all day every day.

It would all be liveable, but it would result in a reduction in quality of life for sure – particularly point 2) which is the most important of all. So my job takes me away from home, although fortunately nowadays it’s only about 50-75% of the time.

Now – work will pay for me to drive OR take the train. The trains are so expensive at commuting times that it is a privilege. Well.. I dunno if that’s the right word. I am lucky that I can do this, but I do believe my work need to provide the public transport option.

butcher – Member
The trouble is, the current economic structure is built around a modern transport system.

What is modern about the transport system in the UK? Apart from more and wider roads, and more trains (or are there less compared to pre-beeching?) not much has changed in the past few decades.

Monorails, hovercrafts, flying cars – that would be modern.

If the job you like, the trails you ride, the shops and the pub, your friends and family are all within walking or biking distance then you are indeed privileged.

that man speak sense

edit, I’m scoring reasonably too, wife wants to move 🙁

The trouble is, the current economic structure is built around a modernprivately owned car transport system

FT….

Modern doesn’t mean perfect or spectacular – it means what we have. More of us are driving around than had ever previously been envisioned – it’s a modern problem.

And I disagree that nothing has changed. When I was a kid (25 years ago) travelling to two out of three sets of relatives we used to visit involved some motorway but mostly it was cross country including driving through the centres of towns. I remember being stuck in the most humungous traffic jams. Hardly happens at all any more. You can get to my Auntie’s in Yorkshire from the Midlands/S Wales almost entirely on motorway now.

OK, maybe I worded that wrong. Yes, I’m refering to the privately owned car. But the rest applies. Our industry is built around our ability to commute.

Our economy is, yes.

The govt needs to put in place massive incentives to promote remote working, and if that fails, legislation. It would improve quality of life hugely for so many people, regenerate economies across the country, improve no end the transport infrastructure for those who need to travel, and slash carbon emissions.

It would reduce tax take from fuel though, but I wonder how much that would be off-set by a reduction in infrastructure spend? Oh, and house prices would plummet in the crowded areas, that could also have an impact on the economy…

My last job closed the office and moved it 40 miles away. No trains between the two places, they just assumed everyone would drive. I think driving started out as a privelege, but has now become almost a necessity for most people due to everything being built and designed around the car. Going to take a long time to change.

driving is a curse.. or perhaps a plague

I don’t have to drive to work I get to cycle a largely traffic free route. I feel privileged. Even in the wind and rain I’m smiling inside 🙂

driving is a curse

To work it is, yes. It’s a pleasure at other times mind. Or sometimes even for work. I was in Winchester last week, I drove home cross-country on A and B roads, over Sailsbury plain. It was absolutely lovely 🙂

i feel much better for not having a car, im more “localised” these days but im Ok with that (even tho i live in Wigan) 🙁
i dont have to concern myself with Extortionate fuel prices and ripoff insurances either, win win

some bloke on Radio 4 just said that “Not everyone is privileged position not to have to drive.”

Did he actually explain what he meant by this, or was he just talking about people rich enough to employ a chauffeur?

not driving is wonderful imo

roads are so congested that all pleasure that driving may give you is sucked out of it, not to mention the beating your wallet takes

i have to cycle 10 miles each way to work (in london) and i consider myself lucky that i can

however when it comes to transporting myself, bikes, kids to riding spots/ family etc then its a necessity

don’t think that it’s clear cut.

i feel privileged to be able to cycle to work – lots of people not think that was a privilege.

The only reason there are leaks about road privatisation and abolishing the 50p tax rate at the moment are to cover up the fact that the government is about to essentially abolish the NHS. The roads stuff is a smoke screen.

I ride 20 miles each way to work, driving there is not an option unless I chose to get up an hour or more earlier.
It’s really not that hard, I see driving as a privilege but even more importantly as a chore.
…and I go past kimbers’ house every morning 😉

roads are so congested that all pleasure that driving may give you is sucked out of it

Speak for yourself. Hundreds of thousands of beautiful open roads in this country. Of course you don’t always get to choose where you drive, but what you said is just not true.

joao3v16 – Member
some bloke on Radio 4 just said that “Not everyone is privileged position not to have to drive.”
Did he actually explain what he meant by this, or was he just talking about people rich enough to employ a chauffeur?

no

if he meant that some people live in a location with no public transport options and no local work then i agree with him.

According to Joanna Lumley it isn’t…

Should this not be turned around?

Driving should be considered a privilege.

but has now become almost a necessity for most people due to everything being built and designed around the car

This. Decades of poor town planning has built this situation.

+1 for driving being a plague. The car is a hateful creation, truly hateful.

Can’t afford to buy a car, can’t afford to run a car. So I ride a bike. The only loss for me personally at the mo in not having a car is getting my mtb into the mountains to ride my bike.

Apologies to BikeSnob….

😀

It would all be liveable, but it would result in a reduction in quality of life for sure – particularly point 2) which is the most important of all. So my job takes me away from home, although fortunately nowadays it’s only about 50-75% of the time.

50-75% away from home? Isn’t that a reduction in quality of life too?

I’m going to agree with the initial sentiment. It is a privilege for me not to have to drive all the time, because it’s compatible with the circumstances I’m in. Some of those are engineered and some occurred randomly. Still a nice place to be in. After having a car once since last year I’ve used one 2 weekends this month. Not pleased 🙁

I heard the original comment on the radio this morning. I took it that if driving wasn’t a necessary part of your life you were lucky. I think he was right.

I work from home a lot at the moment and it is great. I don’t have to waste a couple of hours of my life every day stuck in traffic just getting to and from my job and it frees up time in the mornings and evenings to do stuff outside of work that I want to do.

I’m also saving money by not having to use the car as much. I know the situation won’t last forever and that I’m lucky. The guy on the radio was right.

I’d suggest that for about 90% of people a car isn’t actually a necessary part of life.

50-75% away from home? Isn’t that a reduction in quality of life too?

It used to be 100% 🙂 When I work locally it’s still most of the day away from home. The 50% of the time I spend at home on this job is actually at home.

Ah, that sounds like a fair trade off then molgrips. Just having done 3-4 hour daily commuting before I have no idea how you could make that compatible with family life.

I might still get sent to Redhill tomorrow, that’s a three hour drive there and back.. want to avoid it though – it’s time I need to be writing code.

Don’t mind so much as it’s short jobs to achieve a particular aim – you work hard, then when you’re off no-one cares that much.

Although I might quite like to be designing amps though, that sounds fun 🙂