7 ms·

I tried to get car insurance in California last year. It was so absurd I just sold the car.

TexanFeller 3y ago
Have you considered moving to any other state rather than just trying to live without a basic necessity of life in America?
- techsupporter 3y ago
  I live in one of the "any other states" (Washington) without a car quite comfortably. A lot of us can't or don't drive. It's nice to not have to put up with car insurance companies.
  - danielhep 3y ago
    Hello fellow car free Washingtonian! Selling my car was one of the best decisions I ever made.
  - anon291 3y ago
    As a car lite person, this comment is condescending. As much as I'd love if it were the case, efficient public transit is not a thing in most parts of the country. A car is a necessity. California needs to greatly expand transit or figure something out quick.
    - techsupporter 3y ago
      Why is it condescending? I can't drive or at least I can't do it very well. But before that, my spouse and I had long since sold our car. To me, it is more condescending to insist that a car is a basic life necessity. It demeans those of us who live without one.
      - nullindividual 3y ago
        What a weird take. If you do live in WA, you’re well aware of just how rural WA is. You full well know public transportation isn’t a viable option. You should also know that Seattle’s public transportation isn’t something to write home about. And you’re fully aware that commutes of >30 minutes are not uncommon, in part die to how unaffordable the greater Puget Sound if. A car is a basic necessity of life for the vast majority of Washingtonians. Congratulations on being the vast, vast minority.
        techsupporter 3y ago
        > You full well know public transportation isn’t a viable option. I do not know this. I have over a thousand taps of my ORCA card in 2023. My wife has more. We have been as far north as Bellingham and as far south as Portland on transit. We attended the wedding of a friend's kid in Yakima by riding transit to Issaquah and taking Greyhound from there. I don't appreciate being told that my actual, lived experience "isn't viable", especially when I know several other people who do it just the same as me. Not all of us can or want to drive. This is even more true as people get older. > And you’re fully aware that commutes of >30 minutes are not uncommon, in part die to how unaffordable the greater Puget Sound According to AAA, the annual cost of owning a car is $12,000. We don't spend that money, so we can afford to live closer-in where transit is better. I am not here to judge people who choose to move far away but I haven't done it and I won't. But even if I did, I could just move to where I already have acquaintances in Lynnwood or Redmond or Renton or Burien and take the bus just the same as I do today.
        nullindividual 3y ago
        > I do not know this. I have over a thousand taps of my ORCA card in 2023. You're in the vast minority who can take the Sounder, etc. Your scenario does not reflect the reality for the vast majority of Washingtonians. > I don't appreciate being told that my actual, lived experience "isn't viable" Yet, it isn't viable for the vast majority of Washingtonians. > We don't spend that money, so we can afford to live closer-in where transit is better. Congrats on being wealthy enough to live in a place where ORCA has any value. Most Washingtonians do not. You do, in fact, live in a transportation bubble. You need to acknowledge that your transportation bubble is not viable for the vast majority of Washingtonians, so your premise that being car-free is do-able in Washington simply is not a reality for millions of Washingtonians. This is exactly the same blinders we see on r/seattle. Those who call for elimination of cars are privileged enough to live in Seattle and don't seem to recognize other's do not live in Seattle (or commute to Seattle from where most public transportation is not effective, viable, or possible).
    - creer 3y ago
      Events since 1989 show California has no intention of solving anything.
      - selimthegrim 3y ago
        Since the quake?
        creer 3y ago
        Yes. So it feels. In particular the 1989 earthquake and the years that followed were put to good use removing freeways in the SF Bay Area (and not replacing them - nobody complains that the Embarcadero shorefront freeway should be removed but it's fair to object to the lack of substitution) - And abandoning the idea of elevated and double-decker freeways instead of doubling-up wherever else it could be. Highway 85 completed shortly after that (but was in the works long before that). By contrast, it feels Los Angeles continued on an optimistic path, when the Bay Area turned back (and for example fought new housing as much as possible). This is also the time San Francisco turned against visitors and businesses - working to discourage people from visiting as much as possible. And then turned on its own inhabitants.
  - tomcam 3y ago
    I'm impressed--no sarcasm. Would you mind giving us a glimpse of your day-to-day?Except in Seattle near downtown it seems like there would be tons of challenges.
    - steelframe 3y ago
      I'm in a suburbia (not rural), but we have more of a trail system than a lot of other places in the United States. There really isn't much I can't do on a bicycle, and when I absolutely need to transport something myself, which happens maybe once every couple of years, I've rented a truck for a few hours. My e-bike does most of the heavy lifting when my total travel distance is over 15 miles and I need to transport stuff. I get up, check the weather, throw on clothes for whatever's happening, jump on the e-bike, buzz half a mile down to a gravel trail that runs north-south through my city, and go do what I need to do. I use panniers mounted on a rear rack to hold stuff. For groceries I tend to go to Trader Joe's which is in a shopping area off the trail about a mile and a half from my house. Hardware stuff I get from a family-owned place that's 7 miles away, 5 miles of which is on trails. Electronics is from a store that's sort of like Radio Shack on steroids that's about a mile from the trail system, but that's more like 10 miles each way. I don't need to go there often. Work is 10 miles away, 9 miles of which is on a trail. I park in a bike cage, and there is a locker room with showers.
      - whimsicalism 3y ago
        thank you - super interesting answer to me. a lot of this seems like it was enabled in the last decade or so? or is the e-bike not even necessary
        wyre 3y ago
        E-bikes certainly make it more accessible and I would highly recommend one if you are trying to drive less. Myself and many of my friends commute primarily by bicycle and get around fine on regular bikes, but our city is small and commutes are less than 5 miles.
        steelframe 3y ago
- jghn 3y ago
  I spent nearly 20 years in an American state without a car. Plenty of people I know do the same
- i80and 3y ago
  I'd say maybe a third of people I know don't have cars. In America. That's not a "basic necessity of life", especially when we're talking about well-developed regions like the west coast.
  - nullindividual 3y ago
    You must not live in the west coast if you believe it is “well developed”. All west coast states are largely rural where public transportation is ineffective and cars are a basic necessity of life.
  - creer 3y ago
    Even in large cities in California, it really depends on how much time you want to or can afford to waste on public transit. Specific cases do work - or at least work better than the car-owning alternatives, for example major transit directions for short-ish distances in San Francisco. If your life revolves around a few of these, you are doing pretty well without a car ... and you still can't escape from that area without one. A significant additional "sweet spot" zone is where car usage has been made - deliberately and assiduously - unbearable. The choice is then about a lesser aggravation, rather then desirable service. And so we get the quality of life we deserve, and that's not great. Nobody is arguing that YOU should own a car. If you are happy without one that's great and carry on. But that's rather specific situation.
    - whimsicalism 3y ago
      fwiw Californian cities have some of the worst public transit of major metros that I have seen like the Muni is cute and all but it’s a joke compared to the east coast systems i grew up with (wmata, mbta, nyc mta) many of which are in smaller cities.
- mplewis 3y ago
  Is there something in particular that causes you to be this aggressive to a complete stranger?

Have you considered moving to any other state rather than just trying to live without a basic necessity of life in America?

techsupporter 3y ago
I live in one of the "any other states" (Washington) without a car quite comfortably. A lot of us can't or don't drive. It's nice to not have to put up with car insurance companies.
- danielhep 3y ago
  Hello fellow car free Washingtonian! Selling my car was one of the best decisions I ever made.
- anon291 3y ago
  As a car lite person, this comment is condescending. As much as I'd love if it were the case, efficient public transit is not a thing in most parts of the country. A car is a necessity. California needs to greatly expand transit or figure something out quick.
  - techsupporter 3y ago
    Why is it condescending? I can't drive or at least I can't do it very well. But before that, my spouse and I had long since sold our car. To me, it is more condescending to insist that a car is a basic life necessity. It demeans those of us who live without one.
    - nullindividual 3y ago
      What a weird take. If you do live in WA, you’re well aware of just how rural WA is. You full well know public transportation isn’t a viable option. You should also know that Seattle’s public transportation isn’t something to write home about. And you’re fully aware that commutes of >30 minutes are not uncommon, in part die to how unaffordable the greater Puget Sound if. A car is a basic necessity of life for the vast majority of Washingtonians. Congratulations on being the vast, vast minority.
      - techsupporter 3y ago
        > You full well know public transportation isn’t a viable option. I do not know this. I have over a thousand taps of my ORCA card in 2023. My wife has more. We have been as far north as Bellingham and as far south as Portland on transit. We attended the wedding of a friend's kid in Yakima by riding transit to Issaquah and taking Greyhound from there. I don't appreciate being told that my actual, lived experience "isn't viable", especially when I know several other people who do it just the same as me. Not all of us can or want to drive. This is even more true as people get older. > And you’re fully aware that commutes of >30 minutes are not uncommon, in part die to how unaffordable the greater Puget Sound According to AAA, the annual cost of owning a car is $12,000. We don't spend that money, so we can afford to live closer-in where transit is better. I am not here to judge people who choose to move far away but I haven't done it and I won't. But even if I did, I could just move to where I already have acquaintances in Lynnwood or Redmond or Renton or Burien and take the bus just the same as I do today.
        nullindividual 3y ago
        > I do not know this. I have over a thousand taps of my ORCA card in 2023. You're in the vast minority who can take the Sounder, etc. Your scenario does not reflect the reality for the vast majority of Washingtonians. > I don't appreciate being told that my actual, lived experience "isn't viable" Yet, it isn't viable for the vast majority of Washingtonians. > We don't spend that money, so we can afford to live closer-in where transit is better. Congrats on being wealthy enough to live in a place where ORCA has any value. Most Washingtonians do not. You do, in fact, live in a transportation bubble. You need to acknowledge that your transportation bubble is not viable for the vast majority of Washingtonians, so your premise that being car-free is do-able in Washington simply is not a reality for millions of Washingtonians. This is exactly the same blinders we see on r/seattle. Those who call for elimination of cars are privileged enough to live in Seattle and don't seem to recognize other's do not live in Seattle (or commute to Seattle from where most public transportation is not effective, viable, or possible).
  - creer 3y ago
    Events since 1989 show California has no intention of solving anything.
    - selimthegrim 3y ago
      Since the quake?
      - creer 3y ago
        Yes. So it feels. In particular the 1989 earthquake and the years that followed were put to good use removing freeways in the SF Bay Area (and not replacing them - nobody complains that the Embarcadero shorefront freeway should be removed but it's fair to object to the lack of substitution) - And abandoning the idea of elevated and double-decker freeways instead of doubling-up wherever else it could be. Highway 85 completed shortly after that (but was in the works long before that). By contrast, it feels Los Angeles continued on an optimistic path, when the Bay Area turned back (and for example fought new housing as much as possible). This is also the time San Francisco turned against visitors and businesses - working to discourage people from visiting as much as possible. And then turned on its own inhabitants.
- tomcam 3y ago
  I'm impressed--no sarcasm. Would you mind giving us a glimpse of your day-to-day?Except in Seattle near downtown it seems like there would be tons of challenges.
  - steelframe 3y ago
    I'm in a suburbia (not rural), but we have more of a trail system than a lot of other places in the United States. There really isn't much I can't do on a bicycle, and when I absolutely need to transport something myself, which happens maybe once every couple of years, I've rented a truck for a few hours. My e-bike does most of the heavy lifting when my total travel distance is over 15 miles and I need to transport stuff. I get up, check the weather, throw on clothes for whatever's happening, jump on the e-bike, buzz half a mile down to a gravel trail that runs north-south through my city, and go do what I need to do. I use panniers mounted on a rear rack to hold stuff. For groceries I tend to go to Trader Joe's which is in a shopping area off the trail about a mile and a half from my house. Hardware stuff I get from a family-owned place that's 7 miles away, 5 miles of which is on trails. Electronics is from a store that's sort of like Radio Shack on steroids that's about a mile from the trail system, but that's more like 10 miles each way. I don't need to go there often. Work is 10 miles away, 9 miles of which is on a trail. I park in a bike cage, and there is a locker room with showers.
    - whimsicalism 3y ago
      thank you - super interesting answer to me. a lot of this seems like it was enabled in the last decade or so? or is the e-bike not even necessary
      - wyre 3y ago
        E-bikes certainly make it more accessible and I would highly recommend one if you are trying to drive less. Myself and many of my friends commute primarily by bicycle and get around fine on regular bikes, but our city is small and commutes are less than 5 miles.
      - steelframe 3y ago
jghn 3y ago
I spent nearly 20 years in an American state without a car. Plenty of people I know do the same
i80and 3y ago
I'd say maybe a third of people I know don't have cars. In America. That's not a "basic necessity of life", especially when we're talking about well-developed regions like the west coast.
- nullindividual 3y ago
  You must not live in the west coast if you believe it is “well developed”. All west coast states are largely rural where public transportation is ineffective and cars are a basic necessity of life.
- creer 3y ago
  Even in large cities in California, it really depends on how much time you want to or can afford to waste on public transit. Specific cases do work - or at least work better than the car-owning alternatives, for example major transit directions for short-ish distances in San Francisco. If your life revolves around a few of these, you are doing pretty well without a car ... and you still can't escape from that area without one. A significant additional "sweet spot" zone is where car usage has been made - deliberately and assiduously - unbearable. The choice is then about a lesser aggravation, rather then desirable service. And so we get the quality of life we deserve, and that's not great. Nobody is arguing that YOU should own a car. If you are happy without one that's great and carry on. But that's rather specific situation.
  - whimsicalism 3y ago
    fwiw Californian cities have some of the worst public transit of major metros that I have seen like the Muni is cute and all but it’s a joke compared to the east coast systems i grew up with (wmata, mbta, nyc mta) many of which are in smaller cities.
mplewis 3y ago
Is there something in particular that causes you to be this aggressive to a complete stranger?