The decline of US driving

[SpaniardinTexas]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

A bike would certainly eliminate the dependency thing. Other than a flat tire, you can probably always know you can use it to get somewhere.

With ANY mass transit, you would be dependent on a government entity. Buses, rail, etc. The same government that taxes us, builds roads, etc. Possibly controlled by a union that can ruin your life for days or weeks with a strike. In the event of an emergency, you and thousands around you would fight the for the exact same thing - transportation.

I don't feel beholden to my car. I love cars. I love driving them. Most of all I like the freedom that it brings me. I don't feel that the car controls me - it is the opposite.

I agree. I have spent countless hours waiting in cold or hot bus stations in Europe when I did not have a car. Having to take buses in the middle of the night because the service only link the main cities. It is no fun to spend 18 hours doing a trip that in a car would take 4 hours.

I know an older gentleman in Salamanca, Spain. He has a 20 year old Fiat uno with about 20k miles in it. He only uses it on Saturdays. I guess he spends more money in insurance than in gas. And he tells me that the main thing he loves about his car is that when he look out the window is there, ready to go anywhere.

I am like him. I do not mind not having a lot of things, but I would always like to have a car, not a fancy one, but something to move.

[thunderkat59]

Originally Posted by ghostrider7811

I live this example. My son will soon turn 17 yoa. He doesn't have a DL nor does he express a desire to drive. I love cars, I'm in the car business, I guess he didn't get my genes.

My car just sits with a dead battery right now. 13 years old, and only 30k. Mostly from interstate road trips.

I worked for a hi-po car magazine in the 80's and dragraced. Later, as a McJob, I worked on LeMans type race cars in Florida. I have mostly always used a bicycle or scooter for transportation. I like cars, but driving in todays over developed, crazy, angry world is too much of a chore for me. Not worth it.
So, there's still a chance he may have your genes