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Even in London this is very area specific. Sure, virtually no one will recommend driving in central London, so if you're visiting the city/square mile, you're p

by CM30 8y ago

Even in London this is very area specific. Sure, virtually no one will recommend driving in central London, so if you're visiting the city/square mile, you're probably going to take public transport (due to traffic jams, the congestion charge, maze like street layouts, difficulty parking, etc). But outside of it, many parts of London will have people drive all over the place. If you're in Havering or Barking and Dagenham or other areas on the perimeter of London, a car is basically seen as mandatory for anyone over 16 or so. I suspect it's partly cultural too; a lot of the Hacker News/Reddit user/cosmopolitian 'liberal' mindset becomes a lot less common outside of tech hubs and densely populated urban areas.

Balero 8y ago
The driving age for cars is 17 in the UK. I also disagree that anywhere in London requires a car. And doubly that anyone from the perimeter requires a car early on. I know many people who lived in these areas and did not learn to drive. Smaller towns and rural areas in the UK do require having a car to live effectively in.
- Jaruzel 8y ago
  Pull up a map of Greater London, and look at Biggin Hill (very south part of the map). There's no train or tube out here, and the bus routes basically run North and South requiring at least a change to get anywhere useful. We are INSIDE London, and part of a London Borough, having a car here is almostly mandatory if you actually want to get anywhere in a timely manner, or if you work in central London. It 's ridiculous as we're only 20ish miles from Westminster as the crow flies.
  - Balero 8y ago
    What are you talking about! You just walk to the airport and fly straight to London city! But in all seriousness, that does look pretty poorly connected, but it also looks like the only place. Some people I know from Slough, Kew, and Watford all don't know how to drive, and none seems to have suffered from it.
    - Jaruzel 8y ago
      > You just walk to the airport and fly straight to London city! It's about £650 for a one-way helicopter trip from the airport to a City based helipad. I do it every day... XD

by CM30 8y ago

Balero 8y ago

The driving age for cars is 17 in the UK. I also disagree that anywhere in London requires a car. And doubly that anyone from the perimeter requires a car early on. I know many people who lived in these areas and did not learn to drive. Smaller towns and rural areas in the UK do require having a car to live effectively in.

Jaruzel 8y ago
Pull up a map of Greater London, and look at Biggin Hill (very south part of the map). There's no train or tube out here, and the bus routes basically run North and South requiring at least a change to get anywhere useful. We are INSIDE London, and part of a London Borough, having a car here is almostly mandatory if you actually want to get anywhere in a timely manner, or if you work in central London. It 's ridiculous as we're only 20ish miles from Westminster as the crow flies.
- Balero 8y ago
  What are you talking about! You just walk to the airport and fly straight to London city! But in all seriousness, that does look pretty poorly connected, but it also looks like the only place. Some people I know from Slough, Kew, and Watford all don't know how to drive, and none seems to have suffered from it.
  - Jaruzel 8y ago
    > You just walk to the airport and fly straight to London city! It's about £650 for a one-way helicopter trip from the airport to a City based helipad. I do it every day... XD