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> For most people, the other option is to stop driving to work and then be jobless and eventually homeless, make their kids go hungry, or go bankrupt. You say
by aspaviento 6y ago
> For most people, the other option is to stop driving to work and then be jobless and eventually homeless, make their kids go hungry, or go bankrupt.
You say that as if there weren't any other options. You have public transport and you can share a car (and expenses) with someone who has your same destination.
> For most people, it's a life and family destroying sentence.
Dying in a car accident is literally a death sentence and has worse implications for your family.
- scarmig 6y ago> You say that as if there weren't any other options. You have public transport and you can share a car (and expenses) with someone who has your same destination. So, how does this work, exactly? So you set up carpooling with a coworker. And then one day you don't sleep well. Luckily enough, they're there to pick you up so you don't have to drive! ...but what happens when it's your turn to drive? You tell them, whoops, I'm tired today, so you're going to have to drive and get your spouse to change their plans so that you have access to a car? Or maybe they're always the one driving... what happens on days that they're tired? They cancel and you both have to find your own way via public transit? Like what are the specific logistics here, accounting for failure modes? Does it amount to "spend $100 on Uber on days after a mediocre night's sleep"?
- pantalaimon 6y agoI don’t fall asleep behind the wheel after just a night of mediocre sleep. I think if you fall asleep while driving regularly there is a serious and systematic problem.
- scarmig 6y agoDrowsiness is very dangerous in itself, comparable to driving drunk.
- Ancapistani 6y agoA very large number of people in the US have access to no public transit whatsoever - and as for sharing a car... that’s what they’re likely doing with their partner. One person uses it to go to work while the other is at home, probably caring for their children.
- Silhouette 6y agoA very large number of people in the US have access to no public transit whatsoever - and as for sharing a car... that’s what they’re likely doing with their partner. One person uses it to go to work while the other is at home, probably caring for their children. How do all these hopelessly trapped families ever take their kids to things like medical appointments?
- TylerE 6y agoThey own cars? 93% of American households do - and I expect if you took away a few large dense metros like NYC and Boston, that number would jump up to about 98%
- Ancapistani 6y agoIn my experience, there’s even something of an inverse correlation between vehicle ownership and wealth. If you’re able to own a reliable vehicle, you tend to only own one. If you’re limited to buy-here-pay-here lots and such, families tend to have three or four in various states of repair.
- withinboredom 6y agoOn days we had to do something like that, whomever was taking the child dropped the other off at work.
- Ancapistani 6y agoAre you honestly curious? If so, there’s something of a sliding scale. Most of them take their car - their single car, that serves the whole family. When it breaks down, they lean on friends, family, and neighbors for help. Those without a vehicle in the first place... don’t. I live in a town of <15k people today, and grew up about thirty miles outside of it. I graduated high school in the early 2000s - many of my classmates didn’t see a doctor unless they had a medical emergency. It seems like there is a large disconnect between your perception and the reality of life for much of America.
- TylerE 6y ago> You have public transpor No you don't. In 95% of the US "Public transit" is maybe a bus that stops a mile away once every 2 hours. If that.