5 ms·

Yet another reason to ditch cars. The car is an engineering disaster and it's time has past. I know this will be a shock to some people.

nradov 4y ago
The car is an engineering miracle. It's one of my most useful possessions and I'll never voluntarily give up the personal mobility that it enables.
- lasermike026 4y ago
  Consider alternatives.
  - nradov 4y ago
    Ok, I've considered them. Now what?
    - lasermike026 4y ago
      Try one.
      - nradov 4y ago
        I have tried them, and still use them when practical.
bearmode 4y ago
Lol, absolutely not. I just came back from a trip to a national park that simply would not have been doable without my car. My commute into work each day would be significantly harder without my car. I wouldn't be able to visit much of my family without my car. I can get into the nearest city and town just fine on public transport, and that's what I do. But public transport here is spoke-hub. If you want to go somewhere that is moderately far away from a hub, it becomes incredibly difficult (and expensive). If you live in a city, and you never leave that city other than to go to other cities, then you absolutely do not need a car. Most other people do.
- lasermike026 4y ago
  Take public trans to the park. Hike and camp overnight. Your experience in the park will be heightened. Those memories will warm you into old age.
  - bearmode 4y ago
    - Public transport doesn't go near to where I need to go - Camping overnight is both illegal, and less comfortable than the hotel I was basing my hikes out of I drove there, stayed at a hotel, and hiked out from that hotel every day. It was a very memorable trip. I then drove home. The alternative would have been to get a bus to the train station (40 minutes), a train to the south of the park (2 hours), get a bus from the train station to another town (only 2 buses a day, morning and night, so we'd have had to leave home much earlier or lose a day), get another bus from that town to another town, then get another bus from that town to another town. All whilst lugging a large suitcase, camera bag & gear, and another backpack between us. The buses would have taken another 3 hours. Then if I needed to get home in an emergency, or otherwise leave quickly, I'd have to redo it all backwards, and hope I could make that twice a day bus. No thanks, I'll just stick with my 1.5 hour drive from my front door to the hotel.
toast0 4y ago
The car may be an environmental disaster, but I don't see how it's an engineering disaster? It fulfils the desire to go from point A to point B in relative comfort at relative speed, at reasonable cost that scales to the local economy. US market cars tend to have lots of extraneous features and not be suitable for rugged roads; less developed economies get models with fewer comfort features, but a more robust suspension for use where roads are more aspirational. Autorickshaws are common in some places and unknown elsewhere, etc.
- lasermike026 4y ago
  There is no way for a human to operate a car safely over a mid to long period of time. The human brain does not have bandwidth to process all the information taken in while driving a car. Eventual the driver will get into an accident with a high probability of injury and possibly death. Cars are designed to filter information from the environment. A driver can't sense what is around them. Cars are too big and too heavy. Infrastructure demands are too great. The fuel costs are too high no matter what fuel you use. A cars fails on practically every meaningful metric. Walking, biking, and public transit in a livable community is the only rational way forward.
  - nradov 4y ago
    Just because you're not a competent driver doesn't mean the rest of us are getting into accidents. Walking, biking, and public transit are great options for short trips with limited cargo. But none of those options are going to be viable in my lifetime for getting my daughter to a volleyball tournament 40 miles away at 7:00 AM on Saturday. Including hauling backpacks, folding chairs, boxes of snacks for the team, etc. I've noticed that the arrogant and condescending people who are most opposed to cars tend to be childless young urbanites with very limited life experience. The rest of the country operates in a completely different way, and votes accordingly.
    - lasermike026 4y ago
      You over estimate you competence. Married, kids, and suburban.

nradov 4y ago

The car is an engineering miracle. It's one of my most useful possessions and I'll never voluntarily give up the personal mobility that it enables.

lasermike026 4y ago
Consider alternatives.
- nradov 4y ago
  Ok, I've considered them. Now what?
  - lasermike026 4y ago
    Try one.
    - nradov 4y ago
      I have tried them, and still use them when practical.

bearmode 4y ago

Lol, absolutely not. I just came back from a trip to a national park that simply would not have been doable without my car. My commute into work each day would be significantly harder without my car. I wouldn't be able to visit much of my family without my car. I can get into the nearest city and town just fine on public transport, and that's what I do. But public transport here is spoke-hub. If you want to go somewhere that is moderately far away from a hub, it becomes incredibly difficult (and expensive). If you live in a city, and you never leave that city other than to go to other cities, then you absolutely do not need a car. Most other people do.

lasermike026 4y ago
Take public trans to the park. Hike and camp overnight. Your experience in the park will be heightened. Those memories will warm you into old age.
- bearmode 4y ago
  - Public transport doesn't go near to where I need to go - Camping overnight is both illegal, and less comfortable than the hotel I was basing my hikes out of I drove there, stayed at a hotel, and hiked out from that hotel every day. It was a very memorable trip. I then drove home. The alternative would have been to get a bus to the train station (40 minutes), a train to the south of the park (2 hours), get a bus from the train station to another town (only 2 buses a day, morning and night, so we'd have had to leave home much earlier or lose a day), get another bus from that town to another town, then get another bus from that town to another town. All whilst lugging a large suitcase, camera bag & gear, and another backpack between us. The buses would have taken another 3 hours. Then if I needed to get home in an emergency, or otherwise leave quickly, I'd have to redo it all backwards, and hope I could make that twice a day bus. No thanks, I'll just stick with my 1.5 hour drive from my front door to the hotel.

toast0 4y ago

The car may be an environmental disaster, but I don't see how it's an engineering disaster? It fulfils the desire to go from point A to point B in relative comfort at relative speed, at reasonable cost that scales to the local economy. US market cars tend to have lots of extraneous features and not be suitable for rugged roads; less developed economies get models with fewer comfort features, but a more robust suspension for use where roads are more aspirational. Autorickshaws are common in some places and unknown elsewhere, etc.

lasermike026 4y ago
There is no way for a human to operate a car safely over a mid to long period of time. The human brain does not have bandwidth to process all the information taken in while driving a car. Eventual the driver will get into an accident with a high probability of injury and possibly death. Cars are designed to filter information from the environment. A driver can't sense what is around them. Cars are too big and too heavy. Infrastructure demands are too great. The fuel costs are too high no matter what fuel you use. A cars fails on practically every meaningful metric. Walking, biking, and public transit in a livable community is the only rational way forward.
- nradov 4y ago
  Just because you're not a competent driver doesn't mean the rest of us are getting into accidents. Walking, biking, and public transit are great options for short trips with limited cargo. But none of those options are going to be viable in my lifetime for getting my daughter to a volleyball tournament 40 miles away at 7:00 AM on Saturday. Including hauling backpacks, folding chairs, boxes of snacks for the team, etc. I've noticed that the arrogant and condescending people who are most opposed to cars tend to be childless young urbanites with very limited life experience. The rest of the country operates in a completely different way, and votes accordingly.
  - lasermike026 4y ago
    You over estimate you competence. Married, kids, and suburban.