Living Car Free - Ridiculous uses of cars

Okay we all know North Americans are way too addicted to their cars, and I'm sure its easy to come up with examples of ridiculous uses of cars. Like someone who would drive to their neighbours house or to their end of their own driveway to get the mail and then back up again.

Here's one: one place I worked had two locations about 10 minute walk apart. Parking was in high demand at both locations and despite a 5 storey parking garage there was a long wait list for parking so most people who drove to work had to rent driveway space from nearby residents.

A co-worker insisted we take his car to a meeting at the other location because "it's raining", despite the fact that it took us *at least* 5 minutes to walk to his car in the other direction, then we couldn't park too close to the second location and I think it cost $ to park there too.

What are your examples where people's addiction to using their car boggles your brain? Or if you're brave admit to any frivolous ways you used a car in the past.

Not sure others will agree that this is ridiculous, but I thought it was. I did the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Walk last week. I rode my bicycle into town. There was a SEA of SUVs (not of the bicycle variety) downtown. The amount of gasoline used to get downtown would have made a sizeable contribution to the cause. But hey, everyone drove into town, walked five miles, and drove home.

I decided on the spot that I won't participate again. Too much hypocrisy.

I see it every day. People get in a car and drive across a parking lot to get fast food. A mother starts the SUV, gets it warmed up then drives the kids to the end of the apartment driveway and sits there with the engine on for 15 minutes waiting on the bus. FWIW the temps were in the upper 30's. She probably had that engine running for at least 30 minutes and traveled a whole 100 yard total.

Aaron :)

Around here, people will sometimes drive around the block several times to find a parking spot directly in front of the business they want to enter. This is much less common today than a few years ago. However, I have to remember some of these are seniors with limited mobility. For them, this is not so much a convenience as a necessity.

Yeah that always gets me when there are perfectly good spots a block away (or at the far end of the lot) but people would rather spend 15 minutes cruising waiting for that close one to open up.

Well I saw a "Ridiculous use" of a car just yesterday. I ordered my dinner from jimmy johns (bum foot) and was shocked when they pulled up in front. It literally takes 3 minutes to walk from where I work to get to jimmy johns (less than half a block). I am willing to bet that thanks to the one way streets he had to circle the block and that alone takes about 5 minutes most days thanks to the timing of the lights and the "No Turn On Red" signs.

It amazes me too how people use the weather as their excuse for driving a trivial distance. One co-worker at a job in downtown Toronto that identified her area she lived in as the *same intersection* where our office was, said she drove to work in the winter because walking "was not safe". Presumably because if a sidewalk was uncleared she thought she may slip and fall.

However parking downtown is super expensive, so she would park on a residential street in order to get free parking. This is obviously high demand low spots so presumably she was driving around longer to find a place to park than she would have walked. And probably still needing to walk half as far as her own home on the unsafe sidewalks.

My sister is a 17 year old girl... when she has an hour between school and cheerleading practice, she drives 20 minutes to the mall, window shopped for 10 minutes with her friends, then drives 20 minutes back....... and here I am, only driving as little as possible, and riding everything else.

Once, my family was cooking for dinner guests. My mother realized she forgot onions at the supermarket and told my sister to pick some up. The market is exactly 1.4 miles away. I Said "Don't go, I'll go". a few minutes later I was back with the onions, probably faster than my sister would have been in a car, and they still asked me why I didn't drive.......

And the example I hate the most.... I'm only 20 years old, so lots of my friends are teenagers or in their early 20's. You have NO IDEA how many "joy rides" and unnecessary trips they take. This is also due to the fact that they feel entitled to drive and swipe a credit card at the gas station without even considering how much of their parent's hard work and effort they are absently throwing away.

most people my age are just conceded.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?689164-The-Parking-Lot-Movie&p=11730900&viewfull=1#post11730900

(the last item)

Back in the 80's on a cold (for Southern California) winter's eve, I was enjoying some libations with a buddy of mine in his condo in Ocean Beach when he suggested we have a soak in his jacuzzi. I agreed and headed for the front door. He said, "No, not that way," and headed for the other door that led to the garage.

We drove the 100 meters that separated his digs from the jacuzzi so as to avoid a chilly walk.

I live in an apartment complex that is caddy-corner to a convenience store, and yes, I have seen people drive the distance.

I live in a townhouse that is at the front of the neighborhood and right behind a very nice grocery store/sandwich shop/Italian restaurant/bank/dry cleaners/gym, and probably another store or two that I can't think of. I can easily walk to any of the stores in under two minutes yet I see people who live nearby get in their cars and drive. It probably takes them longer to get in their car, start it, drive there, park, and get out to walk in the store. I think it's absurd!

We live kitty-corner to a Safeway supermarket. It's literally across the street, and across the cross street... and I've had friends walk out of their house, go around the corner to get their car, and drive to the store. This btw, was in the face of everybody else telling them that it was faster to just walk. He didn't believe us until he caught up with us waiting for him at the store entrance.

We also have a Trader Joes 1 mile (.989 miles per the ol' bike computer) from our house, and my son's mother will drive it, despite having two perfectly good bicycles to ride. She doesn't get why I just bike there.

Okay we all know North Americans are way too addicted to their cars, and I'm sure its easy to come up with examples of ridiculous uses of cars. Like someone who would drive to their neighbours house or to their end of their own driveway to get the mail and then back up again.

I did that one a lot when we had a >1/4mi driveway; walking to the box only to find out that I had a 15lb package and an armload of mail really sucked. OTOH, my neighbor sometimes drives over to our house. I can easily throw a tennis ball into his garage from my front door.

I see students at the local university walk a quarter mile to the parking lot to drive a quarter mile to a parking lot that's maybe 200 feet closer to their next class than their previous one. I see the enviroweenie professor drive her minivan less than a half mile from her house to her faculty parking spot, then walk a quarter mile to her office, when the total walk from home would have been less than half a mile due to the street layout vs. the sidewalks. Apparently everybody else needs to save the earth, as long as it doesn't inconvenience her.

People drive to the gym, circle around to get the closest parking spot. Then get on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

I use to live around Phoenix, Arizona and remember people climbing into hot cars to go 20 feet down their driveway to check their mailbox. After high school I worked at McDonalds and a local grocery store around the block from my apartment and people were shocked I walked to work, less then 1/2 mile. I think most Americans are afraid to break a sweat anywhere but in a gym.

People drive to the gym, circle around to get the closest parking spot. Then get on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

B-I-N-G-O
That one has always baffled me too!
My wife and her girlfriends would get together for walks at a near by park. They would all walk for as long and as far as they could together, usually covering 2-3 miles over an hour or so. BUT THEY ALL DROVE the short distance to the park to meet.

I have see one of my friends neighbors drive to another neighbors house.... Five houses down the street. As well as people driving up their trash to the front of the condominium where my parents live... No wonder people are fat >.<

Although my example does not involve an absurdly small distance driven, it is ridiculous anyway. I had a co-worker who would drive to work, put in two hours of effort, and then change into her running clothes and take off for a run. She would always pass by her house ( 3-4 miles away) twice on this morning jog. Since we had lockers and a shower where we worked I suggested she could drive once a week and run to work the other days. She found that idea offensive.

Although my example does not involve an absurdly small distance driven, it is ridiculous anyway. I had a co-worker who would drive to work, put in two hours of effort, and then change into her running clothes and take off for a run. She would always pass by her house ( 3-4 miles away) twice on this morning jog. Since we had lockers and a shower where we worked I suggested she could drive once a week and run to work the other days. She found that idea offensive.

lol

My mother told me that her first husband used to drive down their driveway, pull across a narrow street, and up their relative's driveway back in the late 1940s & early 1950s. The thing that really got my attention was: no one at that time gave this odd behavior a second glance or thought!

When I was in college, I had a 5 minute walk to the dining hall from my dorm. One beautiful Sunday morning, I walked out of the dorm and was followed by two kids. They got into their car and drove to the parking lot that still required a minute walk. I got to the dining hall before them.

My mother told me that her first husband used to drive down their driveway, pull across a narrow street, and up their relative's driveway back in the late 1940s & early 1950s. The thing that really got my attention was: no one at that time gave this odd behavior a second glance or thought!
During World War II, rationing had taken effect to help the war effort. After the war, there was a wave of prosperity and the rationing was lifted. Some of this behaviour and some of the excesses in the car culture of the 1950s may have been a response to the years of rationing.

I have an old high school friend who lives across the street from her two nieces' grade school. Her nieces live around the block from her but she insists on driving the minute to her brother's house to drive her nieces to school. Why? Because Auntie has a "sweet ass SUV" and she wants the other kids to envy her nieces. Mind boggling but not unexpected since this is the same person who thinks only kids and losers use public transportation. She has allowed me the description of "quaint and adorable" on my bike. I try not to hang out with her.

I did that one a lot when we had a >1/4mi driveway; walking to the box only to find out that I had a 15lb package and an armload of mail really sucked. OTOH, my neighbor sometimes drives over to our house. I can easily throw a tennis ball into his garage from my front door.

I see students at the local university walk a quarter mile to the parking lot to drive a quarter mile to a parking lot that's maybe 200 feet closer to their next class than their previous one. I see the enviroweenie professor drive her minivan less than a half mile from her house to her faculty parking spot, then walk a quarter mile to her office, when the total walk from home would have been less than half a mile due to the street layout vs. the sidewalks. Apparently everybody else needs to save the earth, as long as it doesn't inconvenience her.

I ride my bike to the mail box...it is under a 1/4 mile, but the bike baskets are great for hauling the mail and packages back.

Aaron :)

While pedaling to work, I've observed one father and child waiting for the school bus in a large SUV. After the bus came, the child hopped out and I saw the father drive home... to the 2nd house from the stop.

I saw this one back in August:
About 1km from my apartment is a really nice 'enclave' of a neighborhood that has always been really wealthy and is a haven of winding, wide roads within Vancouver's usual grid system. Within this 'hood is a nice round park about 200m in diameter with a circular road around it called 'the crescent'. My friends and I rode there and were enjoying a nice evening game or two of bocce ball. After about 5 mins were heard some yelling from the road and what we saw amazed us all; driving around the crescent at about 15km/h was an Escalade chasing a poor border collie around the park. The owner was of course talking on his cell phone (against the law here) and periodically sticking his head out the window to 'bark' orders at his dog.
He did at least 10 laps which according to my junior high geometry would be about 6.3kms or just under 4 miles. A great workout for the dog no doubt but I'm not sure how much harder it would have been to walk to the park and throw the ball for 20mins while talking on the phone. But then again, how else would this guy be able to announce to everyone else at the park that he was a total jaggoff?

I worked with a nurse who literally lived right across the street from the hospital. She drove to work every day, and often home on her meal break.

The funny thing was, she was an avid cyclist. She often drove home on break, wient on a bike ride, then drove back to work!

Where I live people will drive a half mile to the bars, leave their cars over night, take a cab home, then get a cab back to their car in the morning and drive it home...

I worked with a nurse who literally lived right across the street from the hospital. She drove to work every day, and often home on her meal break.

The funny thing was, she was an avid cyclist. She often drove home on break, wient on a bike ride, then drove back to work!

So does anyone ask these people in the examples (gently of course), so why don't you walk? It would be interesting to hear their answers but no doubt they will make little to zero sense as this seems to be a completely irrational emotional decision of some sort on their parts. (justifying how much they spent on the car?)

In my example of the one who lived near work, she was convinced that it was too dangerous to walk in the winter - this is despite the fact her walk would have been along Queen West, a very popular shopping strip in Toronto where the shops abut the sidewalk, with many year-round pedestrians and hence excellent snow clearing.

Where I live people will drive a half mile to the bars, leave their cars over night, take a cab home, then get a cab back to their car in the morning and drive it home...

Well given that one of our football players (well at my alma mater) recently got a DUI for realizing he was too drunk to drive home so he decided to drive across the street from a convenience store parking lot to a long term parking garage (where he got pulled over) so he could bunk with someone, I suppose your people at least have the safer idea.

People drive to the gym, circle around to get the closest parking spot. Then get on the treadmill for 45 minutes.

This probably the most ridiculous use of a car :D

When I got my first permanent job, I was delighted to find an apartment complex literally next door to the company.
A fence with a gate in it separated the parking lots of the two.
It took about 2 minutes to walk from my door to my desk.

A co-worker also lived in the same complex.
She *drove* to work.:twitchy:
She would go out to her car, drive through the gate into the company lot, park the car less that 100 yards from where she started, then walk in.
Every day.
Yes, she was obese.

A co-worker also lived in the same complex.
She *drove* to work.:twitchy:
She would go out to her car, drive through the gate into the company lot, park the car less that 100 yards from where she started, then walk in.
Every day.
Yes, she was obese.
We had one guy in town who drove to work each day, even though his work was a little more than one long block away from his home. I think he also drove to the post office, even though that was two short blocks from his home. He was extremely obese. I'm not sure if he was obese because he drove everywhere or if he drove everywhere because he was obese.

I also know one rather large woman who uses scooter to get around. In her case, there are other health problems which severely limit her mobility.

A person I was getting a lift from parked on a busy road very near a school rather than finding a decent place further away. He then was getting annoyed at not being able to get out. His difficulty was because the other cars could not get around him easily to get out of his way. Ironic that, but he could not see it at the time.

Many people seem to suffer from a similar lack of insight. I need to drop my child right outside school due to the traffic ......................( because it is so busy with people dropping their children right outside school).

While pedaling to work, I've observed one father and child waiting for the school bus in a large SUV. After the bus came, the child hopped out and I saw the father drive home... to the 2nd house from the stop.

I pass a trailer park on the way to work. It might be 6- 7 acres total; no more than a 3-4 minute walk from any trailer to the entrance. There were four cars waiting for the bus this morning at least 20 minutes before it comes through, and at least two of them were running to keep the occupants warm in the 52 degree chill.

Even worse, the schools are less than a mile away from there.

I pass a trailer park on the way to work. It might be 6- 7 acres total; no more than a 3-4 minute walk from any trailer to the entrance. There were four cars waiting for the bus this morning at least 20 minutes before it comes through, and at least two of them were running to keep the occupants warm in the 52 degree chill.

Even worse, the schools are less than a mile away from there.

So why wouldn't the parent's just drop their kids off at school and go back to the house if it was a mile away. I would tell my future son to walk it if it were just a dam mile. This has to be an exaggeration.

i used to sit in a warming car w/ my son waiting for the bus, but in our defense the stop was 2 blocks away, the window for the bus was 20 minutes during which it could show at any time, it was often < 30F, and he was in the 1st-3rd grade... oh, and then I'd drive 36 miles in to work. i'm really glad i don't live that far anymore, and the only reason my now 12yr old son doesn't ride his bike to school is that there's no route that doesn't involve at least 1/2 mile of 45mph road with no shoulder and no sidewalk between his mom's house and the school. And I haven't needed an oil change yet this year... yay car-lite!

I think an aversion to exerting oneself by walking is an old, well-established American trait. De Tocqueville mentioned a marked aversion to walking on the part of nearly all Americans as early as the early 19th century. In the 1880s, African Americans would sometimes ruin themselves financially on carriages and horses to avoid the indignity of walking, according to Booker T. Washington. My own father regards walking any significant distance as an insult. I once tried to talk him into walking ten blocks to a coffee shop with me, and he was incredulous; why walk when there's a perfectly good car right out front?

My own father regards walking any significant distance as an insult. I once tried to talk him into walking ten blocks to a coffee shop with me, and he was incredulous; why walk when there's a perfectly good car right out front?
My father took a different approach. He got a bicycle in the early 1970s and often commuted by bike or on foot. Now in his 80s, he no longer rides, but he usually gets around by walking or taking the transit. The car is his vehicle of choice for going to church and for a few special functions and out-of-town trips.

His example is a big part of the reason I'm car-light today. Like him, I get around by bike or on foot, using the car for occasional out-of-town travel and a few functions and errands where it is the most practical form of transportation.

I can only hope people around me will eventually follow my example and perhaps find ways to take it further.

So why wouldn't the parent's just drop their kids off at school and go back to the house if it was a mile away. I would tell my future son to walk it if it were just a dam mile. This has to be an exaggeration.

I have a group of 3 schools just over a mile from my house...the students are not allowed to walk to school. No sidewalks, busy 45mph two lane highway.

Aaron :)

I think an aversion to exerting oneself by walking is an old, well-established American trait. De Tocqueville mentioned a marked aversion to walking on the part of nearly all Americans as early as the early 19th century. In the 1880s, African Americans would sometimes ruin themselves financially on carriages and horses to avoid the indignity of walking, according to Booker T. Washington. My own father regards walking any significant distance as an insult. I once tried to talk him into walking ten blocks to a coffee shop with me, and he was incredulous; why walk when there's a perfectly good car right out front?

I am not a huge fan of walking either...that it why I have bicycles. :D Well not really, under a mile I will walk, two miles I consider it, more than that it will be the bike.

However I have noticed that when I am in some place like Boston I probably walk a lot more than I realize.

Aaron :)

downtown Toronto

no surprise here

I had some pretty ridiculous sex in my car one time.

I had some pretty ridiculous sex in my car one time.

When you have a car, but are still living with the parents, that is an *excellent* use of a car!:thumb:

bragi called it; it's the mindset. Can't account for 1800's origin, but for today, it's the 'baby boomer' mentality (and yes, according to the statisticians, I am one).

The line of thought is: "America is the greatest country in the world; therefore, shouldn't we live a better lifestyle than everyone else? Doesn't that mean that we shouldn't have to suffer ANYthing? What, sweat and breathe on a walk or bike ride when we can sit back and DRIVE? I DON'T THINK SO! That's for the lesser folks we bailed out in WWII."

Entitlement -- it's an ugly way to live.

North Americans live in a discontinuity in the fabric of spacetime resulting in people here being nuts. Don't believe me? Just look around.

bragi called it; it's the mindset. Can't account for 1800's origin, but for today, it's the 'baby boomer' mentality (and yes, according to the statisticians, I am one).

The line of thought is: "America is the greatest country in the world; therefore, shouldn't we live a better lifestyle than everyone else? Doesn't that mean that we shouldn't have to suffer ANYthing? What, sweat and breathe on a walk or bike ride when we can sit back and DRIVE? I DON'T THINK SO! That's for the lesser folks we bailed out in WWII."

Entitlement -- it's an ugly way to live.Yup, and this is why Hatchbacks, Wagons, and Minivans are so unpopular in the US, "how....practical of you" (said with a sneer) Have you noticed the sudden explosion of "croossover" vehicles of late? you know, the ones that are, Hatchbacks, Wagons, and Minivans, in all but name.

This also is probably the reason for the popularity in the US of big, 2 door coupes, you know, the ones that took up 50% more space than a European family car, buit had barely enough room for a 2 people and a set of golf clubs? Europe had 2 doors too, but generally were way smaller than a typical family car. (Power to weight, ya know?)

When you have a car, but are still living with the parents, that is an *excellent* use of a car!:thumb:

No I didn't live with my parents at the time. I had a perfectly good bed, couch, kitchen table, or patio at home that I could have used but we choose the car instead which makes it ridiculous.

I am not a huge fan of walking either...that it why I have bicycles. :D Well not really, under a mile I will walk, two miles I consider it, more than that it will be the bike.

However I have noticed that when I am in some place like Boston I probably walk a lot more than I realize.

Aaron :)

I guess European bicycle racers are also averse to any walking. They believe that wallking saps their strength for riding. I read that racers will make their wife or girlfriend pull the car right up to the door of their building, and will never live someplace where there is no elevator.