Anyone Ditched their Car Completely for a Bike?

[Deleted member 1258]

I haven't driven for 6 months due to broken hips and not working. I got rid of my car the other week as i only used it for work. Question. If i gave up driving for quite a while,even years,would i be able to drive competently if i started again?

During the time I was car free there were a couple of jobs that involved some driving and I did drive hire cars occasionally, when I did start driving again I had hardly driven for several years, at the time I was very aware that I was rusty and just was careful and took it steady

 

[Accy cyclist]

Could you drive competently before?

Only 3 points(cracked headlight)and stopped once(doing 38 mph in a 30 mph area)in 39 years.

 

[Sara_H]

I am not keeping it in case somebody dies. ..

We are! (Sort of). My OH's kids, elderly parents and his quite ill brother live sixty miles away. We've had one or two emergency trips to down there not because of a death, but for various states of emergency over the years. It takes an hour in the car, several hours on public transport, and of course, public transport stops at night so you just can't do it.
We had one in reverse as well, my OH was visiting the rellies on the fateful morning a few years ago that I text him to say I thought I had appendicitis (I didn't) and could he come back and take me to a & e. He got back an hour later and found me semi conscious in the living room. If I'd waited for him to get back using three buses and a train I'd be dead now! And if it had been a Sunday evening I'd probably still be waiting!

 

[Tin Pot]

When I lived in London I had no desire for a car. Using the bike was the best option.

I didn't drive for over 10 years, never had any problems starting again.

I stopped driving manual four years ago.

Hired a manual car last month, drove it straight into a wall.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Only 3 points(cracked headlight)and stopped once(doing 38 mph in a 30 mph area)in 39 years.

That just means you haven't been caught

 

[Drago]

Only 3 points(cracked headlight)and stopped once(doing 38 mph in a 30 mph area)in 39 years.

I'd have gone to court with that. A crack alone isn't a breach of either lighting regs or con and use, unless there's a dangerous edge or the beam pattern is adversely affected.

 

[raleighnut]

I've have gone to court with that. A crack alone isn't a breach of either lighting regs or con and use, unless there's a dangerous edge or the beam pattern is adversely affected.

A bit like the 'Officer' who tried to do me for a defective rear brake on my motorbike whilst deftly pulling in the clutch lever.

 

[Flying Dodo]

It's perfectly possible to go car free, provided you don't live 10+ miles from the nearest shop or train station. Therefore a large proportion of people in the UK, especially in England, could go car free, provided they're prepared to make some sacrifices to the illusion of freedom that having a car parked outside appears to give people.

I went car free 6 years ago, when I realised that after taking account of tax, insurance & servicing costs over the previous few years, that the car was costing £200 per month just to be sat on the drive. And that was before putting fuel in to then be used maybe once or twice a week. By that stage I'd already been commuting daily by bike for nearly 10 years, as my 6½ mile trip to work is quicker by bike than car.

When you breakdown and analyse what you actually need to use a car for, it's quite simple.

Shops will deliver heavy items. On a cargo bike I can carry in 6 panniers enough food for 4 people for a week. For trips to London or other places, occasional train tickets and taxis are cheap enough, and certainly a lot less than £200 pm. And for obscure journeys somewhere, you can hire a car for the weekend.

However, it only worked because I was prepared to look at the bigger picture and decide I didn't want to be selfish and clog the roads & pump out pollution like all the other drivers.

Having said that, I have just had to resort to getting a vehicle due to a change in circumstances. As I'll be retiring next year, selling the house and downsizing to split my time between Mitcham & Bognor, due to the sheer quantity and volume of things I'll be taking for recycling and moving between properties, it wouldn't be feasible to do that by bike or constantly hiring vans. And I've dealt with the pollution aspect to some extent by getting an electric car.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I have never had a car, last time I had access to one was about 15 years ago.
I did get a driving license, never liked driving.
Up until 6 years ago I was happy with public transport and the occasional taxi, now I'm happier at the extra freedom of movement a bike (well, ahem, 4 bikes) gives.

Since then there have been very few things we haven't been able to manage on the bike (taking the cats to the vet is the only thing that comes to mind)

I use a pet trailer for this, cat in its basket, of course. The vet is about 3 miles round trip along quiet roads.

The end to it came when I had to cycle to work in a foot of snow one day and ended up with hypothemia -

Was the snow unexpected?
With the right clothing I cycle to work all year round, can't say I ever got near hypothermia!
For ice and snow I have special tyres, we get ice, rarely snow.

 

[iateyoubutler]

I have never had a car, last time I had access to one was about 15 years ago.
I did get a driving license, never liked driving.
Up until 6 years ago I was happy with public transport and the occasional taxi, now I'm happier at the extra freedom of movement a bike (well, ahem, 4 bikes) gives.


I use a pet trailer for this, cat in its basket, of course. The vet is about 3 miles round trip along quiet roads.


Was the snow unexpected?
With the right clothing I cycle to work all year round, can't say I ever got near hypothermia!
For ice and snow I have special tyres, we get ice, rarely snow.

It was very wet and slushy, every car that passed plastered me in another load of it. Nothing that I could have worn would have stopped that lot, and after 4 hours of it I was in a bad way. It did give me an excuse at work to sit huddled next to a radiator, drinking mugs of tea and eating hot pasties - anything I could do to get warm again! Just to give you an idea, when I actually first arrived at work I was light headed, sleepy, spaced out, and mumbling gibberish - all bad news. Still, working in a hospital I was in a safe place!!

 

[Noru]

Now we live on the edge of Greater Manchester we've become a 1 car couple.

The Mrs works freelance all over the country often at short notice so she needs a car.

But I'm happy without a car as I can cycle or get the bus (extortionate I'd rather drive than do it all the time, but once in a while when I can't be bothered to cycle due to the weather/man-flu its ok). The trams are good for going into the city centre but not much else due to where the route goes in relation to home/work.

Though its nice to borrow the car for shopping & taking my bike to audax's when the cars available to me and good for day trips out together.

But its all about where you live and what you do.

Having lived in small towns without train stations where the nearest bus stop is a mile walk and the buses to the nearest city are hourly at best a car became estential. Conversely while living in a city centre flat I didn't have a car.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Having lived in small towns without train stations where the nearest bus stop is a mile walk and the buses to the nearest city are hourly at best a car became estential. Conversely while living in a city centre flat I didn't have a car.

I live in a small village, 3 miles from the nearest town, with an hourly bus service which only operates 7:30 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday. I can plan around those times, as taxis work 24/7.

 

[Drago]

Yup, I'm 7 miles from nearest civilization, with a bus service less regular than the Wehrmacht invading Poland. It won't be stopping me.

OK, I don't need to go to work, but when I did I cycled in anyway.

 

[screenman]

I live in a small village, 3 miles from the nearest town, with an hourly bus service which only operates 7:30 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday. I can plan around those times, as taxis work 24/7.

Do you have a wife and kids to transport around as well?

 

[Drago]

I got a 5 Y/O. My missus will remain responsible for her own transport needs as she's not yet figured an easy means to carry her wheelchair on her bicycle.

For my own part, mere "convenience" won't be a good enough reason to continue polluting the planet and wasting irreplaceable resources. I'm quite looking forward to that sense of lentil eating smugness that as a non Guardian reader I've never experienced before.