I’m a person living in a rural area and have to either go by train, the nearest station being 15 mins away by car and the trains having a schedule that keeps fluctuating.
Or have to go by car where it takes 60 mins to get where I need to go. I wouldn’t want to get a late pickup or anything outrageous just something to get me places.
I’m not a car enthusiast or anything like that.
Owning a car if you need one is not in itself a problem. “fuckcars” isn’t about blindly hating cars, it’s about being aware that cars are inefficient, dangerous, and bad for people’s health. It’s about raising awareness about how car-centric and car-dependent society has become, despite there being better ways to structure transportation.
Thank you for the clarification, so what I’m hearing is that owning a car is fine if it’s not something outrageously large or inefficient and I don’t have good public transit connections?
We’re not some kind of cult setting rules for how people should live. If you need a car, buy a car, if you want to own some kind of ridiculous lifted truck, you can do that, but I’ll reserve the right to make fun of you and think you’re an asshole.
the “fuck cars” mindset is typically that we’re against car-dependency, not against people who are victims of car-dependent societies. Naturally people in suburbs and more rural areas, especially here in america, will need a car. It’s not ideal and it’s something that should be fixed but it happens.
Exactly. Blaming individuals for systemic problems never gets you anywhere. If you can reduce your car dependency, sure, do that, but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t.
It’s important to note that there are some countries where even the rural communities have enough transit options that cars aren’t necessary. It’s less common, but it does exist.
Yeah, I think this is kind of a problem with fuck cars communication. It really needs to be clear that it’s against car dependency.
I mean I’m a “fuck cars purist” I’m not a fan of cars at all. But yes, the movement is very much about car-dependency, not cars.
I hope my local government makes bus service better then as the alternative is more than 3 hours of bus rides with a large cramped bus :/
Yup. I also find myself in an american car-dependent suburb and it’s honestly hell here. Public transit is basically non-existent, and we don’t even have sidewalks. I really wish america would do better on walkable cities and public transit. It’s annoying.
Fair enough I’m in a rural town in Europe and it’s mostly an issue of having to get to the city, thankfully I don’t need to use a car for anything else other than getting to work and maybe the nearest large town but that’s mostly due to the fact that a family sadly needs loads of groceries to feed itself.
yeah if you do most of your day to day tasks without a car and just use a car sometimes then that’s great. the issue is like how it is here in america where you literally can’t do anything without a car. it sucks.
Yeah I’ve heard about it from my boyfriend it’s crazy! He goes “see you in 3 hours I gotta go shopping”
that’s how it is Dx. 1 hour drive to get to the store and a 1 hour drive back, plus all the time you spend shopping.
Do you think it’ll get better?
IMO the question isn’t is it’s moral to own a car, it’s what can you do to be the least dependant on cars as possible, and reduce its impact. Some may be able to avoid them completely, but don’t beat yourself up if you’re being forced to drive.
I live in a rural area and have just accepted that owning a car is a necessity. The shitty thing about living in a car dependent system is that your awareness of the shiftiness of the system doesn’t necessarily exempt you from having to still live inside of it.
Yeahhhh :( it sucks
I bought an ebike and that’s been kind of a game changer. Its allowed my partner and I to share a car, and I just ebike around at 40km/hour whenever she needs to drive. It requires a bit of willingness to get cold/wet, and some creativity with bike locking, but it makes those 10-15km distances in my hometown realistically accessible by bike on an everyday basis.
That’s amazing, although in the EU rules are more strict on ebikes. Especially with ones over a certain limit. They can only really go max 25/h and if they go over they become by law a vehicle and need a license plate and a driving license to drive.
I think everyone here understands that most people don’t live in northern Europe with great cycling and train infrastructure. So you do what you got to do to live a happy life in car infested capitalist society, nothing wrong with that. If that means you need a car, get a car. Preferably it’d be used and with a low ride height / bumper height. So it’s at least a bit safer for cyclist and pedestrians.
I think all we ask is that when there is an opportunity to advocate for more pedestrian or cycling infrastructure that you do so
FuckCars is not about BEING carfree, it’s about realizing that you’re FORCED to have a car, to pay $10,000 per year to own that car, to breathe in the pollution from the roads, to risk your life on the road, and how bad that sucks.
How do you feel about motorcycles?
Arghhh the loudness of these things, makes me crazy, at least get an electronic one (that’s on the other hand totally ok IMHO).
Me too, I have to plug my ears when I’m biking and a motorcycle passes me. There are some quiet gas ones though.
Or course it is. Also, it’s ok to not literally fuck cars. It’s just a sentiment that we wish cars didn’t have to dominate so much due to poor civic planning.
Well, you sort of have to. That’s the issue.
I consider it a larger problem than the individuals and their cars. It’s mostly political, and I won’t bore you with my opinion on that
However, as an individual you can still consider your options as they arise.
If you’re looking for a new job or new house, consider the commute. If you’re commuting every day, consider if you can shop groceries or visit people on the way, so you don’t have to drive again later the same day. If you’re planning long distance trips, consider if it’s better driving to the train station instead of the whole trip. Share the ride if possible. Etc.
There are many ways to drive less. Most are pretty obvious, but some people don’t even consider anything at all because the car is such an ingrained part of life. It all starts with the thought: I don’t really want to drive.
Do it to save gas and money, do it to save time, do it to get fresh air. These are the direct consequences of not wanting to drive.
