Adults who don't drive

I only drive because someone needs to in my family: never liked driving, got my license when I was 32 (after my baby arrived).
- spending money on taxis/buses/trains was ok with me.

Then ... if I were to imagine a more desirable alternative in future, it would be for me to have an executive car driven by a personal chauffeur // would be happy to sit at the back and relax while somebody else drives me everywhere...

Muahahaha wrote: »

For me this has always been one of the best reasons to know how to drive. Ireland is a beautiful place but the best spots have no public transport. If you havent driven the likes of the Conor Pass, Slea Head, Beara peninsula, Wild Atlantic Way, etc then you are completely missing out. You dont even need to own a car, just have a license so that you can rent one. Its the same with holidays abroad, outside of the big cities you miss out big time if you cant drive.

That's exactly it. The most stunning beautiful places in Ireland are away from cities or towns. Knowing how to drive opens a lot of options that wouldn't be accessible otherwise. There is no need to own a car if you don't need it as long as you can hire one.

If you're older and driving with L or N plates, people could quite realistically assume that the plates belong to your teenage child

Muahahaha wrote: »

Id hate to be learning to drive right now than 20 years ago. At least back then a L plate told people to be cautious around you, nowadays it seems to tell people to be aggressive around you

They were just as bad back then bullying learners on the road.

Thargor wrote: »

I honestly can't wait to see what the options are like in 10 years time though with the rate technology is evolving, young people in places like China and India don't even bother with cars anymore, they're all on Ebikes or Escooters.

They have a **** ton of public transport and might seldom travel beyond their own area in their lifetimes. Let's see you hop on your ebike with toddlers in tow or in your 50s or 60s and see how you get on.

I'm 27 and never learned to drive.

I don't need to
I don't want to
I can't afford to
I cycle, bus or walk everywhere without issues.

Only time I wish I could drive is when I want to take off to a random county and go hiking or whatever. But purely living in Dublin, I have never felt like I need a car.

My live usually consists of going from kimmage to college (8 min cycle), town (20ish mini cycle) and my girlfriend's (25ish mini cycle).

Mutant z wrote: »

This is a free country where anyone is perfectly entitled to decide to drive or not drive as they see fit not everyone has the means or condition to afford a car and even if they did who is anyone to decide that they should be forced to learn to drive a car if they choose not to

I really think Drivers Education should be provided in final leaving certificate year. It's no hard to learn it and learn properly and it would go a long way to reducing road fatalities going forward. We learn Irish, Religion and Algebra etc. all things we may never need to use again.

I lived in Dublin and then london and never really needed to drive. Then I moved to the US and was stranded without it so I learned a few years back. I wouldn't be without my car now.

It depends on where you live , if you live in a city with good public transport you may not need to drive.
keeping a car on the road cost.s 5-10k per year.
IF you live in rental accomodation you might not have any space to park
a car.
Its cheaper to take the bus,cycle , to work.Maybe take the odd taxi.
The traffic in dublin is bad now, it would be awful if every adult had a car.
i see nothing great about driving ,itss not good for the environment .
Maybe young people have other things to spend money on,
rent ,saving for a house.
I think the no of drivers is falling if you just count people under 30.
Its a trend .Maybe its like smoking ,its no longer cool to smoke .
Insurance is expensive the younger you are the more you pay.

whisky_galore wrote: »

They have a **** ton of public transport and might seldom travel beyond their own area in their lifetimes. Let's see you hop on your ebike with toddlers in tow or in your 50s or 60s and see how you get on.

Something like this, perhaps?





Or this?

When I was younger, until say late 20's I didn't really need to drive, I bought a house that had good public transport, I had no kids, I was never in that much of a panic to get anywhere or buy a big shop or anything like that. So, I wasn't even that pushed about learning but I wanted something to put in the CV so I got my license and boy am I glad I did!

From about 28 onwards is when I really saw the benefit...

1: Recession hit hard and all our public transport up our way was cancelled and deemed unecessary! ALOT of older people were left stranded with no way to the nearest shopping centre or city centre - 10 years later and still no sign of the bus returning (and I am not rural - there are four very large estates in my area but mostly all young families who drive, so noone is really fighting for it)

2: I had a kid and jaysus is it a pain going anywhere with a small child, trying to drag a buggy and all their ****e to the shop and then lugging all that and all the shopping up a hill in the pissing rain/snow/wind is a fuppin nightmare. It was back breaking after a while. I won't even go into too much detail about the time I had to drive home in my vest and knickers because the baby puked and shat all over me and herself. That would have been a delightful walk home....

3: Child is older now so I'm in the car all day, racing to school drop off, then to work, then back for pick ups and then off to extra curricular whatever they're signed up for and birthday parties at the weekend. Getting herself to walk the five minutes to the school gates when youre in a hurry is actually the most painful part of the day. If it's pissing raining she'll walk extra slow - I could not imagine having to walk any major distance with a 5 year old, it's painful!!!

4: My choice in schools would be severely limited if I had no car - nearest primary to me is an absolute scumbag nest of a school - the best school is about a 15 min drive away from me (or about an hour walk and if you've to drag a 5 year old with you, you can double that and add endless whining, lying on the floor, crying and begging to be carried ) same deal will be with the secondry schools. There is no public transport that would get me anywhere near these schools.

5: I now have to do a big shop once a week because I'm on a budget, I can't dick around with food anymore and going to the shop every evening is just not something I can do anymore. I am not within walking distance of any Aldi/Lidl so I'd have to pay for a taxi and again, I'm dragging a child with me, a child that needs a booster seat.

6: The amount of times I've had to race to a doctor or hospital at 4am with a sick child (and twice a very sick husband and once a very pregnant me)- I was so glad I had the car those days, one of those times was the hubby needing emergency care on christmas eve at 4am - no way in hell I would have been able to get a taxi that night!!

I would be completely lost without the car - when I was young and carefree none of the issues would have come up, I strolled everywhere with the earphones in but jaysus they're a reality now! Car is 100% a necessity!

I know plenty of women in their 60's who never learned to drive and relied on the husband to ferry them places and are now fupped because the hubby died and the kids are all living too far away to be of any help. They're very isolated now - even though they are living close to the city because they can't walk like they used to and they have to rely on taxis and neighbours to go anywhere. They're extra shagged now because our local post office and bank both closed up and moved a good distance away - no big deal for me but a huge deal to them, they dont have internet so no internet banking and now have to travel a distance to access their money! Now the nights are dark at 5pm and the weather is ****e they're nearly trapped in their homes most of the day. I couldnt live like that!