Could you effectively live without driving a vehicle or car?

[berni_mccoy]

Poll question: Could you effectively live without driving a vehicle or car?

Simple yes/no. Given the life you've lived, would it have been possible to live it without driving?

[Donnachaidh]

1. oh jeez, beat a dead horse first thing in the morning.

:yawn:

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Maybe it's just a dead battery.

[Dappleganger]

2. Our area has no public transportation.

The city above us has practically none, too.

I could live without a car but not without a truck. ;)

[berni_mccoy]

5. Updated to be vehicle agnostic.

:)

[tosh]

3. I'd love to but, no...not in my region.

[blondeatlast]

4. +1. nt

[Peacetrain]

6. No I would not have a job.. and I help support an extended family as well

[newfie11]

7. No I live on a farm

I really do not at my age want to go back to riding a horse to town.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. I wish I could, but not where I live. Driving sucks.

[mikelgb]

10. "because your anecdotal response to this poll will prove me right!"

bless your little heart

[recoveringrepublican]

11. Most likely no, but if I couldn't afford it, I couldn't afford it and would have to adjust. nt

[Gman2]

12. I could not LIVE without a car.

I have heart failure. And cannot endure bus waiting, jossling, and likely would catch something bad on a bus. My gov. has determined to fleece the taxpayers. They have scheming cameras, with doctored yellow light durations. They make up new UNlaws, and get the judge to be in cahoots. They cancel my reg, when I put it down cuz I cannot afford ins. They are playing games, with my life. They wont give me SS dis.

So, yes, I could not live without a car. Does my gov give a fuck? No, they would rather I expire.

[pipi_k]

13. Well, technically I could if...

I could find about 500 Canadian geese strong enough to cart my fat ass around wherever I wanted to go.


Otherwise, no. I live in a rural area.

[LoZoccolo]

14. I have not owned a car in over ten years and probably haven't driven for four or five. n/t

[Fumesucker]

16. Sorry LZ, you don't exist in berni's world.. n/t

[LoZoccolo]

25. I actually hope to be able to get away with it indefinitely.

I like taking public transportation because I can read while I'm on the bus and train. Ten years ago that was one of the only perks, but with a smart phone you can get a whole bunch of other stuff done while other people sit in traffic.

[Hello_Kitty]

42. I envy you.

I live in Phoenix so it's difficult to never drive but I've gotten it to where I drive only about 3X a week. Of course, unemployment helps with that.

[Arkana]

74. Did you sell your account to someone that loves DK, LoZoccolo?

[LoZoccolo]

77. No, this is KUCINICH WEEK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7947492
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7950523
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7954908
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7975627
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7984391

I doubt I'd be able to unload an account with three moderator warnings on it since 2007, and more locked threads than I can provide a realistic estimate of.

[murdoch]

84. I live in New York City

I have not owned a car for over fifteen years. A bus stops a block from my home which goes to the subway, two blocks from my home is the railroad.

There is a delicatessen a block away, and a small supermarket four blocks away. There is a supermarket half a mile away but it is now more Asian food then it used to be. A typical supermarket is less than a mile away - I can bicycle there and put stuff in my backpack if it is a small purchase.

There is also a taxi stand a block away. When I visit people or go to an event out of state, I take the train, fly or sometimes rent a car.

Even when I was making good money, I did not buy a car. I would have to pay for it, plus insurance, plus gas, plus any repairs. I would have to worry about where to park it, and move it when they clean the streets. It could always get stolen, or damaged, or get into an accident, or I could get tickets.

Even though I've been in an income bracket where this is not usually the case, I look at a car as a luxury item. The cost and problems associated with it do not match the convenience I would sometimes get from it. In fact, a lot of those hassles might make it more of an inconvenience than convenience.

Of course, New York City allows one to be free of a car.

[daggahead]

15. Not in my current situation.

I work in Information Technology, and my employer doesn't trust the employees to work from home ... so, they'd rather I drive the 50 mile round trip and lose 2 hours of productive time sitting in my car.

Until that mentality changes, I need my car. I have no public transportation option at this point, either.

[deedee77]

17. No

No real public transportation in my area. But I can drive for 20 minutes, to get to a train that will take me into Dallas, great for concerts or the State Fair, lousy for everyday use.

[woo me with science]

18. I did it for five years. nt

[Brickbat]

19. I have, but I like driving. And where I live now, I could not, and living where I live is now is

more important to me than giving up my car. Plus, I can't carry multiple kids and hockey bags on a bike.

Mr. Brickbat could not have lived his life without a truck. He was a union carpenter for many years, and thus hauled his own tools. He could not be without a vehicle now; he is a locomotive engineer and is called out to different yards on call 24/7.

I like driving. I like my car.

[ThomWV]

20. "Effectively live", what does that mean?

I'm sort of at a loss to understand the question. Could I live? Well, we have water, and we have a bit of food. Its only 4 miles to town so I could walk easily enough - or we could eat the dogs I suppose. There won't be anything from the gardens for months.

[Iggo]

21. I could, do, and have done since 1984...in L.A. County, SoCal. (n/t)

[myrna minx]

22. I haven't had a car since 1991, so yes, I can live without one.

:shrug:

[hfojvt]

43. seem to be a lot of those here

When I went to the U of M there were so many busses on campus I thought the bus system was part of the U. Sorta like school busses. My favorite though was when my room-mate went to work. I waved to him as he left and then went down and got on my bike and took the back roads past where he works and got to his bus stop a couple minutes before he did.

[newspeak]

60. our campus had lots of bikes

we had bike roads all through the campus. It was great--even had bike cops.

[CBR]

23. No. I lived in rural Oregon and rural West Virginia. nt

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

24. no, and I wouldn't want to

Walking half a mile and waiting for the bus in 110 degree weather? I don't think so.

I can drive everywhere I want to go pretty quickly

[FarCenter]

26. Yes, but my wife couldn't...

Haven't actually done the analysis, but I'm guessing that it would be more cost effective to hire taxis or rent cars as needed than to own two vehicles. Certainly, one could be dispensed with to great advantage.

[havocmom]

27. Have done it for years on end

[smirkymonkey]

81. Same here.

Cars just seem like such a pain in the ass.

[hunter]

28. Y'all car people should be glad I'm not king.

I'd outlaw personal automobiles.

Satan's wheels, they are, nasty smelly things bad for the environment, kill people by driving 'em and in oil wars, and great suppressor of human rights worldwide.

Cars turned the U.S. into an ugly imperialistic hell hole where everyone is expected to carry "papers" in their wallet and wear a license plate on their butt.

Piss on that. My drivers license proclaims me a sinner. I will be so happy when the oil runs out and every last gawd damned automobile is melted down to build public transportation systems, and once again Americans can stand TRULY FREE! FREE AT LAST from the BLOODY TYRANNY of the Automobile.

The only good car is a dead car.

I abuse and neglect my own rolling piles of shit-and-destruction because I hate them. Someone dings my fender, hell most of the time I don't even notice, and if I do I laugh. I haven't washed my own car in at least ten years. It has lichen growing on it and spiders live in every crevice, hunkering down to avoid the occasional wind storms when I am forced to drive, always against my will, with the blood of innocent Iraqis and Nigerians and 9/11 victims blowing through it's quarter century old carburetors.

And I'm being nice today.

BWAHAHAHA!!!

:hi:

We now return you to your regularly scheduled rants....

[laughingliberal]

29. I lived for many years without driving. Did not have a car until I 28 and out of nursing school for

2 years. I have a car now but could do without it if I had to.

The real point here is people would not be able to live the same lifestyle they have now without driving but it is quite possible to remain alive without driving. Although, to Americans, it doesn't feel that way, it is still reality.

[supernova]

30. No, I could not

I live in the country, and must drive into town for work, shopping, and entertainment.

Public transport is minimal here so far. There are plans, but that's all they are at this point.

That said, I sometimes think I'd love to live in Europe, close to the city center so I could take the primo transport they have.

[TommyO]

31. Given the life I've lived, no

Moving to a major city with reasonable transportation, and more importantly, the ability to walk to work, shop, and eat, yes, I could live without owning a car. Driving is another story, even if I lived in NYC, I would still need to drive from time to time, for example to visit my family in NJ.

[krispos42]

32. My kid's mom lives 155 miles away from me and where I live and work

So, no.

[grahamhgreen]

33. I already do! Could you put that in the poll? I really don't even like driving in cars anymore.

[whatchamacallit]

34. What's the point of this nonsense?

:shrug:

[Fumesucker]

35. I don't think this poll is turning out quite the way berni wanted it to.. n/t

[berni_mccoy]

37. Oh really? And you can read my mind?

The fact is, this poll would not be indicative of the population as a whole. Furthermore, the fact that more than half can't live without driving is enough to say that insurance isn't optional.

[Fumesucker]

48. More than half does not by any stretch of the imagination equal all..

So yes, a car and hence car insurance is optional for a substantial minority of people in the USA..

We all could lose our ability to drive at any time for more than a few reasons.

Not to mention that many states allow you to post a bond in lieu of insurance.

A body on the other hand is not optional at all, it is an absolute necessity.

Edited for word choice and to add a sentence.

[berni_mccoy]

51. You don't need "all" for it to be a requirement for some. That is the reality.

The reality is, it's not an option for all.

[Fumesucker]

53. You think people don't lose their ability to drive every day?

Do people die when they go blind or come down with a seizure disorder that makes it impossible for them to drive?

[Gormy Cuss]

49. The fact is, the poll result is meaningless, both for answering the direct question

and for making any statement about health insurance.

[Crabby Appleton]

50. Strictly speaking, auto insurance is optional in most states

most states for driving require proof of financial responsibility - a requirement most often met by the purchase of auto insurance, but which can be met through other means - surety bond, cash or liquid security deposit with DMV/BMV. For instance in Ohio proof of financial responsibility can be an auto liability insurance policy, a surety bond of $30,000, a certificate issued by the BMV showing a bond secured by real estate having equity of at least $60,000, or a certificate of self-insurance issued by the BMV, available to those with more than 25 vehicles registered in their name or a company’s name. Most other states have similar provisions.

[inna]

69. Here he goes. " the fact that more than half can't live without driving is enough to say that insura

nce isn't optional." :think:

[amborin]

87. you need to take Introductory Statistics and Intro Logic

[Atman]

36. This isn't a Yes/No question

I could and have lived with only a bicycle...but I lived in a small beach town in Florida. Now I live out in the country, 13 miles from my office, 5 miles just to the nearest convenience story. If I lived in the city, certainly I could do without a car. As my life stands now, the answer is No.

.

[Toucano]

38. Can and do. n/t

[newspeak]

39. I have friends who do not own a vehicle--they live in a small town

My son for over three years owned no vehicle because he could not afford the insurance. There are working poor who do not own a vehicle because they cannot afford the insurance--they take mass transit or ride a bike.

[newspeak]

44. I worked for DMV

and it was drilled into our heads as employees that a driver's license was a privilege. Now, do you think your health is a right or a privilege? Driving is a privilege that can be taken away from you for various reasons.

[Hello_Kitty]

40. It's still a shitty analogy, even if most people do perceive that driving is a necessity.

There are many other important differences between auto and health insurance that render any comparisons of the two useless and misleading.

[Luminous Animal]

41. Yep. I don't have a car.

And my 20 year old daughter doesn't have a driver's license nor does she know how to drive. The same for the vast majority of her friends.

[Xenotime]

45. Car insurance is required for all vehicles.

[surrealAmerican]

46. Not only can, but already do.

I happen to live in a very walkable town.

[Broken_Hero]

47. Nope, sure can't

no public transit, wife's work is a roughly 30 miles away.

[Sheepshank]

55. I suppose I'd live

but I could no longer make a living. I need to get to work and back and at odd hours and evening meetings. I'm the principal bread winner. I have high needs kids that need shuffling to and from dr's etc (heaven help us if we ever had to worry about getting to dialysis regularly and frequently). Withou a vehcle, we'd become a wards of the State and the Feds for health care, food and housing. I suppose that IS another option?

[NoGOPZone]

52. dupe

[NoGOPZone]

54. Yes. Your mileage may vary. nt

[KamaAina]

56. Effectively? Hard to say

That's pretty much how I've lived my whole life. Not sure how effective it's been, though.

[crazyjoe]

57. no, that's why nobody lived before cars were invented and made affordable by Ford

[berni_mccoy]

61. Not asking if there is a different reality from the present day. Asking if people living in today's

real world could do it.

[RaleighNCDUer]

66. My real world is not your real world. nt

[berni_mccoy]

75. And for everyone who isn't in your world, auto insurance is a legal requirement.

[RaleighNCDUer]

58. Absolutely.

I didn't get around to getting my license until I was 24. I've always bicycled. I have a car now which I use only to get to my P/T job, which pays me just enough to afford a car. I don't need a car for my real job. The only job I ever had that made a car necessary was driving pizza delivery - in my own car. In any of the many times that I've not had a car in the past 30+ years, I've found jobs that did not require having a car.

[Solly Mack]

59. Yes - but then I live in Germany

[uppityperson]

62. My whole live without a car ever? No. My life now? No. My life living in a city? Yes

It would not have been possible to have lived my entire life without a vehicle. Where I live now I need one as there is no public transport and it is too far to walk and unsafe to bicycle at night when I get off work.

I lived in a city for a couple yrs and could have gotten by without a vehicle except, again, getting off work at 1 am (unless you don't count taxi's as a vehicle, or hitch-hiking) since public transport quit by 9 pm and no co-workers lived near me.

[bikebloke]

63. I haven't driven a car since 1992.

No problems. And I prefer riding a bike. Though I had to give up a sport I really liked - orienteering. You need a car to get to the meets.

[amborin]

64. YES the entire island of Manhattan, along with many, many

surrounding buroughs and metropolitan AND suburban areas DO FINE using public transportation.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, parts of Penn, etc.....people commute in to Manhattan via bus, train, rail, etc....

For a worst case scenario: take Los Angeles. Believe it or not, plenty of people from all class backgrounds do just fine without a car.

There is really only ONE area where a car is essential: the rural south.

The New York Times ran an article on this during the spike in gasoline prices last year. Only in the rural south, where there was NO public transportation, were folks having a difficult time survinging and commuting to their jobs.

This is a fallacy: BAD ANALOGY FALLACY

[Prism]

65. Not in the suburbs

I live in an area with good transportation now (Bike, BART, feet, etc). But when I lived in the suburbs, it was impossible. Even a job 10 minutes away would not have been very doable without a car thanks to the way suburbs are spread out without regular public transportation. For a brief period, when I lived in the burbs and worked in the city, I attempted to live without a car. It sounded doable on paper, but then the entire commute took 2.5 hours each way on a good day. With a car? 30 to 40 minutes, depending on traffic.

Then there's that whole winter thing . . .

[amborin]

85. depends

on which suburbs

[Throd]

67. Hell no. I absolutely love my cars.

[LeftishBrit]

68. I do - but this is in England

[MilesColtrane]

70. If I gave up my vehicle I would have to give up what I do for a living.

So no, that would not be what I consider "effective living".

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

71. I grew up in NYC and didn't drive until I was 25 but didn't really need to drive

and didn't need to drive until I was in my mid 30s when I left the city.

Do I need a car now? Yes, but at some point, I'd like to move to a situation where it isn't necessary.

To answer your real question? Car insurance is necessary if you choose to own a car, and that insurance minimums require that you insure against doing damage to others. Mandated health insurance has no similarity to auto insurance at all.

[Rebubula]

72. Hell NO

I enjoy driving WAY too much for that.

I enjoy few things more than an open road with good music and weather.

I do a lot of my introspection while I am on the road.

[Arkana]

73. No.

Where I live is very rural and there is no public transportation. The closest supermarket is 30 minutes away.

So no--without a car, I'd be up Shit Creek.

[Obamanaut]

76. Yes. I am retired. I can get anywhere I really need to go on my

bicycle. I can attach a trailer to it and carry 40 lbs of stuff. There are three grocery stores about six miles from my house (nothing but convenience stores closer than that.)

If necessary I could switch health care providers to one about 7 miles away.

This is entirely doable.

[Quantess]

78. It all depends on where you live. (no text)

[pitohui]

79. no i would not have any freedom or quality of life

i have a relative who still drives even tho she is BLIND (macular degeneration), old people refuse to stop driving even under dangerous circumstance because, in most of this country, if you can't drive, you are not free

plain and simple as that

we don't live in england w. a train on every corner, we live in america, where it's the highway or no way at all

no car, you won't be hired for a job

no car, you won't get a second date (and prob. not a first one)

no car, you're nothing and nobody

now if you're a billionaire who can afford to live in manhattan, yah, fine, you don't need a car, but i'm not a wall street banker, i'm a normal average american

you can't even see your own country w.out a car, not the real america, not our mountains and national parks...

the person w.out a car in america is a beggar and a nuisance to everyone -- think abt how you treat yr friends and relatives who don't have a car -- yah, that's right, you AVOID them because you have yr own life to live and being an unpaid chaffeur isn't part of it

[Chisox08]

80. I can!

CTA, Metra and Pace gets me where ever I need to go. Plus its cheaper and I won't get ripped off for parking Downtown.

[ecstatic]

82. I got my license at 25... so yes! But I wouldn't *want* to go back nt

[Cetacea]

83. I've been doing it for eight months.

It's not always easy but it also has it's benefits (exercise,low stress, etc...)

I live in a progressive area and there is a lot of public transportation, however I do not use it.

[Hekate]

86. Not in SoCal I couldn't. I moved here from O'ahu 30 years ago & realized I HAD to overcome my phobia

... about driving. When I lived in Honolulu, and even out in the sticks in Waianae, I had access to an excellent bus system. Here on the Central Coast I quickly learned that I could spend hours getting from one place to another, which is not feasible when you have 2 preschool kids to support and you need to get a job.

Even now, with the kids grown and myself retired from paid employment, my life would be considerably reduced in scope if I had to give up my car for the bus. No more County Commissions. No weekly grocery shopping bringing home heavy items and multiple bags.

Hekate

[suffragette]

88. I don't drive

And I didn't drive when living in Germany and Southern California.

Easier in Germany and here. Harder in California, but not impossible. It just meant that I made different choices, such as living closer to work, grocery stores, etc.