Just got a tow from the side of the highway. I feel like I’ve been jumping from car issue to car issue my whole life. I don’t even want to have a car.

No advice needed or anything, just venting.

    • amemorablename@lemmygrad.ml
      13·
      4 months ago

      I feel that. It’s especially awful to me how much of the US, there is no alternative and you’re essentially being forced to do a dangerous high-risk activity on a regular basis just to get to and from places for basic survival (that is, if you can afford a car and are capable of driving and so on - and if you can’t, you may be dependent on someone else doing that dangerous high-risk activity). The amount of cumulative stress from that, not even getting into the number of injuries and deaths, has gotta add up to a lot.

      And the whole concept of driving as the main means of getting around is so backwards and ineffectual that the richest people bypass it and use private planes instead. All the traffic, the accommodating different directions people are coming from, lights, stop signs, turnoffs, you end up with so much starting and stopping, it’s wasteful for gas use, wastes time, and isn’t even freeing like it gets portrayed as because you’re highly limited by the roads and their traffic patterns and design. And don’t get me started on how so many road designs have no consistency at all and vary widely from moment to moment, because forbid any of it makes any sense and was planned ahead on.

  • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    22·
    4 months ago

    Reading this after recently reading that New Delhi was prohibiting buses during rush hour in favor of cranking up even more car traffic doomer

  • -6-6-6-@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    14·
    4 months ago

    E-bike gang.

    I have an e-bike that can go up to 55 mph. Also useful for escaping code enforcement that tries to inspect it. No gas or license required.

  • Gosplan14_the_Third [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    4 months ago

    I’m in the process of getting my license, because the fucking countryside means either that, two and a half plus hours’ daily commutes or unemployment.

    Fuck me, my first lesson involving actual driving was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. Especially since, from talking to people I know online and IRL, I got thrown into an unusually deep end immediately and the instructor kept screaming at me.

    I was able to try my mom’s small car after that in a public training area and the much lower power, not needing to actively look down to see the speed, RPM, etc., not being in city traffic and not having a screaming old guy who probably learned this job in the army next to me made it a significantly more pleasant experience.

    If public transportation were more like in Berlin or Japan, there’d be absolutely 0 competition from cars.

  • ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml
    6·
    4 months ago

    I love driving : ( it’s one of my guilty pleasures. I adore long drives especially at night, and lose myself in the highway hypnosis, or let myself listen to audiobooks or podcasts I’ve been missing. The scenery is also very beautiful where I am, and I love the rhythmic humming of my engine and tires. It makes me feel very peaceful.

    I absolutely hate driving 20 minutes to get anywhere. I hate the price of gas. I hate traffic. I hate absolute troglodytes who don’t know how to drive. I hate the dilapidated roads where I live.

    sigh

    • RedClouds@lemmygrad.ml
      4·
      4 months ago

      Yeah, I like driving when it’s fun. Like by myself through the country roads when no one else is on the road haha.

      Going down my local stroad just pisses me off haha. I’d sell my car and move to a city if I didn’t have kids (I can deal with public transit but it’s not good enough for kids in my area)

  • Kultronx@lemmygrad.ml
    5·
    4 months ago

    i feel you. getting rid of my car greatly helped my mental health. no worrying, road rage, wasted money, etc

  • lorty@lemmygrad.ml
    2·
    4 months ago

    Meanwhile I’m looking to own a car because I moved to the worst city in my country for non-car owners, even though all my life I never cared for having one.