are young people interested in cars?

[dellzeqq]

Car use in UK cities is in decline, and young people do not aspire to car ownership. I've always thought that this was about insurance costs, but, then again, the minority of young people who do drive seem to be not especially wealthy. Perhaps there's something in this Grauniad article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/25/end-of-motoring

I do think, that, for whatever reason, cars are seen as 'old people', although it's surprising how often the 'old people' get pressed in to service for lifts. The late teenagers that I know don't drive and don't seek to drive because public transport and taxis are there to do the job without the commitment that cars require.

What do you think?

 

[twobiker]

Round my way the teenagers drive as soon as they can due to the rural bus services, but they mostly do the boy-racer bit unfortunately , big stereo and cabbage cannon exhaust.

 

[gbb]

Round my way the teenagers drive as soon as they can due to the rural bus services, but they mostly do the boy-racer bit unfortunately , big stereo and cabbage cannon exhaust.

Unfortunately, i did the same back in 1975 ..nothings changed

My son is 27, does not drive and has no desire to. Mostly based on cost. It's worth remembering that (IMO) the kids today have much less free money in their pockets than we did. Either that or there's so much more for them to spend their money on nowadays.
Years ago you could still earn decent money even as unskilled labour, its not like that anymore, a huge lot of jobs are minimul wage, either that or my son has settled for a low paid job that he's happy with.
When i wur a lad, if i didnt like it or the money wasn't good enough, i upped and left. I remember having 9 jobs in just over 2 years..seamlessly. You just can't do that anymore.

But insurance costs are a huge factor, there's no getting away from that. My son says he has no intention of even trying.

The downside to that is i think they will develop a much more localised lifestyle and i think their experiences in life will be somewhat stunted.

 

[User482]

It's just economics. Even allowing for inflation, insurance for a 17 year-old is maybe 3 times more expensive than when I were a lad. Few people are willing to pay an annual premium that is twice the value of their car.

 

[david1701]

very much depends on where you are and how you work. I'm learning to drive because I'm a freelancer in a rural area, in a city I would sell the car (probably) and maybe if I had a regular job within 10-15 miles I'd just have the bike but its a hard one.

I have waited until 21 to start though

 

[JtB]

I’m fed up paying nearly £100 every time I fill my car up with petrol, that for me as killed off any small passion for cars I may have harbored in my youth. The main consideration for my next car will be low running costs.

 

[srw]

My 18-year-old nephew has just passed his test and is a member of pistonheads.

We could exchange anecdotes until the cows came home. Fortunately the cost of insurance for young drivers is prohibitive for most of them.

 

[gbb]

Here's a simple analogy..
Mid to late 1970s, my insurance cost roughly 1 weeks wages for a banger.

If the average 18 year old is now being charged IRO £2000, working for £5 an hour, that equates to 10 weeks wages. 10 times the cost of 1975

Even if it were £1000 for the year, its still 5 times the cost.

 

[Moodyman]

[QUOTE 1558404"]
I think that all of my friends' teenagers are as keen to learn to drive as we were. So much so that one friend reinforced how essential cars are to his son by paying his £3500 third party insurance when he first passed his test at 17.

Maybe it's a regional thing?
[/quote]


I agree.

London is just too busy for driving and public transport is pretty extensive.

When I last drove in London - 11 years ago - I was surprised by the number of old (10+ years) cars on the roads versus oop North.

Got the impression, that outside the Kensington & Chelsea, people viewed their cars as utilitarian rathen than status symbols.

 

[Oxo]

I agree.

London is just too busy for driving and public transport is pretty extensive.

When I last drove in London - 11 years ago - I was surprised by the number of old (10+ years) cars on the roads versus oop North.

Got the impression, that outside the Kensington & Chelsea, people viewed their cars as utilitarian rathen than status symbols.

On a recent visit to London public tranport was fine, though I didn't travel late at night. Back home public transport is just not a feasible option. Services are often unreliable and infrequent and take an age as they wind their way down every side road and byway. A regular 10/15 minute journey I make by car takes 1.5 hours by bus.

 

[G-Zero]

[QUOTE 1558404"]
Maybe it's a regional thing?
[/quote]

+1 I agree too.

My eldest son lives in London and although he passed his driving test many years ago, he has never owned a car, and such is the public transport system in London; he currently has no need of one.

Had he remained in the NE after Uni, it may have been a different story.

 

[mcshroom]

I'm another one who would probably not bothered with a car if I lived in London now (I used it less and less when I did a few years ago). In rural Cumbria the alternatives are just not there though, and I'm kind of attached to my old banger

Young people up here still want to drive, but rather like house ownership in the SE a few years ago, the cost of running (especially insuring) a car is so far above what they can afford they just don't even think about it as a viable option.

 

[jonny jeez]

[QUOTE 1558404"]
Maybe it's a regional thing?
[/quote]


I'd say its even finer than that.

Dell's location is a touch north of mine (by about 10 miles) and I suspect that 10 miles makes all the difference. Kids in my (slightly suburban, slightly disconnected) neighborhood all seem to rely on cars. Public transport is a drag and getting trains "across" an area like Kent is a nightmare by train.

10 miles north though and you enter the tube network which (despite my almost constant grumbling) is a truly wonderful invention. If I lived 10 miles north of my address I think I could sell my car myself and rely on the tubes (and occasional streetcar/cab).

So I'm sure kids in those areas feel the same

 

[Fiona N]

I didn't buy a car until I was nearly 30 - that's what academia does for you - no money - when I got a job with BP outside London. I don't have one anymore so my car owning period lasted less than 20 years. But I don't think there's been a year when my car-based mileage was higher than my bike-based mileage

None of my (driving-age) nieces seem to have much interest in owning a car although they've all passed their test - I think they are more interested in travelling and working in interesting places - eldest niece has just returned from a year teaching in Vietnam. All they're all pretty ecologically savvy too so quite willing to do without a car to 'off-set' the air travel.

 

[Bigsharn]

Personally, I have no need for a car or a license * so I've never bothered to learn. I'm 21 and when I tell people I often ride 50 miles in a week (or to Leeds and back) they look at me as if I'm strange.

The other problem is the cost to run a car at 21. Living in a low-risk area, and working with buses every day, it's still £2,000/year minimum on my own insurance (£700 on my mum's estate as a named driver). Weirdly enough, I checked for a few cars (mainly tiny engined hatchbacks and estates), and among the cheapest was a 1987 Capri 2.8i at £2k for a year fully comp.




*though granted I am saving for lessons, the price is only going to go up, and it'll come in handy eventually.