You really did take this personally did you
But I'm not surprised, there's always people that scream "but MY car!" when someone talks about minimizing car use.
But I'm not saying ban cars everywhere, they are great tools when used properly and I personally absolutely LOVE driving them (but I rarely do nowadays), but from my own observations I'd say that 85% of all travels by car is done alone and often in big SUVs, and I doubt very much that they have filled their entire car with things that makes that 2+ ton enormous semi offroad machine actually used to it's fullest potential. In other words, it IS extremely inefficient and therefor the use of them should be way less than what it is today.
And talking about forcing everyone else to do like you, as soon as I open my front door those cars are forced onto me. I have a quite big road (also know as the "big wall" or "wound") around 50m from my house and that constant noise is not nice at all, especially those louder cars and motorcycles can be really distracting. And unless I go out in the forest those cars really are ever present, passing quite close to me in high, deadly and loud speeds even though it might "only" a 50km/h zone.
At nights it gets quiet here though which is nice, but one single car can break that silence for over two minutes, ONE car with often ONE lonely person gets to make that much noise, it's actually quite insane to me. Now multiply that by 20 constantly during the day and the noise levels are so much louder than they really should be even outside the city where I live.
And going into cities it's even worse, their everyyywhere both driving and parked ones, they take up so EXTREMELY much space, both physically and audibly. I don't see the purpose of having them at all in cities when walking, biking and public transportation are better in almost every single way, except that they are more dangerous because at the moment the cities are filled with dangerous polluting cars ;\
And then the whole thing about that so called freedom and that people should be allowed to drive cars however they want to, but I disagree, we as a society and planet do not have the space or resources for that. This place has finite resources which makes it impossible for everyone to have some kind of "right" to have big luxuries cars, homes, things, whatever. If we continue like we are doing now we ARE doomed. And yes I've been talking about cars here, but there are of course many many other things as well that we ned to fix to get anywhere near something we can actually call "green".
But I guess my reason why I'm picking at cars here even though there are other things to talk about is because I do have some kind of personal beef with them. If I go outside they are almost constantly in my face, ears and mind, and seeing only one person in many of them probably going to the gym five minutes away (which in itself is so ironic) bothers me quite a lot. Handymen, busses, ambulances, delivery trucks etc on the other hand is more fine, they are using the tool in the correct way.
Uhm lol? It's cars and cars alone that causes many vehicles to sit in traffic.
But yeah I agree, cities has it's own problems as well which I did hint at in my post as well, their essentially big deserts, often very little vegetation and life, except for some humans, rats and some birds.
You really did take this personally did you
But I'm not surprised, there's always people that scream "but MY car!" when someone talks about minimizing car use.
That is truly hilarious.
But I'm not saying ban cars everywhere, they are great tools when used properly and I personally absolutely LOVE driving them (but I rarely do nowadays), but from my own observations I'd say that 85% of all travels by car is done alone and often in big SUVs, and I doubt very much that they have filled their entire car with things that makes that 2+ ton enormous semi offroad machine actually used to it's fullest potential. In other words, it IS extremely inefficient and therefor the use of them should be way less than what it is today.
Do you pay for their fuel?. Insurance, Etc? If they want to waste their money, that is their prerogative, I think.
And talking about forcing everyone else to do like you, as soon as I open my front door those cars are forced onto me. I have a quite big road (also know as the "big wall" or "wound") around 50m from my house and that constant noise is not nice at all, especially those louder cars and motorcycles can be really distracting. And unless I go out in the forest those cars really are ever present, passing quite close to me in high, deadly and loud speeds even though it might "only" a 50km/h zone.
You can move, just as I did when the city encroached on me with too much of everything that I deem bad about cities. I was on the country edge of the suburbs, on a navigable waterway where no one could build behind me and on a peninsula with only one road in & out. Yet, the city expanded, took it over and living there became unbearable
.
At nights it gets quiet here though which is nice, but one single car can break that silence for over two minutes, ONE car with often ONE lonely person gets to make that much noise, it's actually quite insane to me. Now multiply that by 20 constantly during the day and the noise levels are so much louder than they really should be even outside the city where I live.
And going into cities it's even worse, their everyyywhere both driving and parked ones, they take up so EXTREMELY much space, both physically and audibly. I don't see the purpose of having them at all in cities when walking, biking and public transportation are better in almost every single way, except that they are more dangerous because at the moment the cities are filled with dangerous polluting cars ;\
And then the whole thing about that so called freedom and that people should be allowed to drive cars however they want to, but I disagree, we as a society and planet do not have the space or resources for that. This place has finite resources which makes it impossible for everyone to have some kind of "right" to have big luxuries cars, homes, things, whatever. If we continue like we are doing now we ARE doomed. And yes I've been talking about cars here, but there are of course many many other things as well that we ned to fix to get anywhere near something we can actually call "green".
If you stand the entire human population of earth shoulder to shoulder, they would take up roughly 437 square miles of space, which is approximately equivalent to 20.9 miles on each side, essentially fitting within the are of a medium sized city.
If you want quiet, I have lived on wonderful islands in the Western Pacific & the Indian Ocean and also, in the country.
Now, if you have less than 5 acres, you may here your rowdy neighbors stereo. But there is plenty of room for everyone.
But I guess my reason why I'm picking at cars here even though there are other things to talk about is because I do have some kind of personal beef with them. If I go outside they are almost constantly in my face, ears and mind, and seeing only one person in many of them probably going to the gym five minutes away (which in itself is so ironic) bothers me quite a lot. Handymen, busses, ambulances, delivery trucks etc on the other hand is more fine, they are using the tool in the correct way.
Uhm lol? It's cars and cars alone that causes many vehicles to sit in traffic.
But yeah I agree, cities has it's own problems as well which I did hint at in my post as well, their essentially big deserts, often very little vegetation and life, except for some humans, rats and some birds.
Nope, it's not cars at all. It's people choosing to live clustered up together in cities that are car centric.
And there, you also have another choice: there are some cities (not usually huge ones) that are not car centric. You could move to one.
I see people on horses much more than I do people driving cars. Perhaps you should buy an acre (better yet, 5 acres [three-5 acres is not so hard to take care of but more than 5 becomes a serious pain in the butt]) of land & build a house somewhere in the country. That will minimize your exposure to cars, trucks, etc. The constant use of horns (and the unfortunately needed sirens) that I hear in cities is one of the major things that I don't like about cities.
As to YOUR idea of proper use of a vehicle:
Well, I must be a rarity because I seem to fit right into your proper use algorithm: (but I know that I am not). Many use a car/truck as a fashion item. Or status (mine is more huge than yours). I use mine to do what I need to do.
& have different vehicles for different purposes (a larger truck when needed).
[I bought this 2004 model in December 2023 with 193K miles on it, it now has 197K miles on it]
{about 400 miles a month of hard work}).
And bought a 2024 Subaru CrossTrek to take my wife to the cabin we have on a river that can only be gotten to by trails requiring 4 wheel drive (& tow a 500 Lb. 15 ft. boat with a 15 HP motor there too). We also keep kayaks there.
Since March, we have put 6K miles on this vehicle.
(almost 860 miles a month because this is now also the grocery getter)
I have a 2000 Nissan Frontier 4 cylinder truck for lighter duty things & light towing (and also trips that usually involve 2500-3000 miles in a week, [I have 200K miles on it {approximately 700 miles a month, average]}).
This Nissan is now being driven a lot less, perhaps 100 miles a month, as the Subaru has a class 3 hitch setup and took the going to that cabin on the river duties away from the Nissan. In fact, I think that I am going to sell it.
But, at least once a week, my wife & I just like to get in a car and drive around, just to go to another area, go to a different restaurant 50-100 miles away and have a nice, relaxed, Saturday or/and Sunday drive.
Here is the big break with your algorithm of "proper" use:
And sometime I want hilly curvy rods because they are fun.
We have the money and are not being subsidized by anyone, I see no reason that anyone should complain about that.
& sometimes I just like to rent a car for a track day because it's fun.
Anyway, I think that we will just have to agree to disagree on this subject.
That does not lean that we can't agree on other things.
Thank you for your consideration.
EJ3
