I’ve got to admit that when I first heard of the anti-cars community, I was a little skeptical. “Whats wrong with cars?” I thought. But the more I lurked, and the more I watched youtube channels like Not just bikes, the more I understood just how shitty the world is around us. Fuck Cars.
Initially:
- Traveling for a minimum of 90 minutes daily for education/work in an area with adequate public transport, and not having many other places to drive to. I would rather sit down and relax or work, and not drain myself on stroads.
- Not enjoying the risk of driving a car.
- Not seeing value in the initial and ongoing costs of cars
I was still skeptical of /r/FuckCars when I first saw the name, but the first few posts I saw were nothing but facts. Same thing again with the anti-lawn groups: it’s so normalized that until you are prompted to think about it, it’s just something most people never stop to think about.
Adulthood:
- wow now that I realize it this is just recklessly dangerous and overnormalized
- society shouldn’t actively promote unhealthy expensive wasteful modes of living
wow now that I realize it this is just recklessly dangerous and overnormalized
That but it’s also fucking expensive. Like diamonds for a wedding ring it’s something that society tells you you need to do but it’s utterly stupid if you calculate risk, cost and gain.
I’ve watched Thailand dump the nation’s wealth into building kilometers and kilometers of roads, mostly around Bangkok, to move more and more cars at a slower and slower pace. Moving cars instead of people. That money could have been spent in hundreds of different and better ways.
oh my that sounds horrible
All my life I accepted that cars where everywhere. When I started cycling in a city and thus had to live through near crash after near crash because the cars didn’t want to accept me as a traffic participant, I started questioning the whole thing. I saw how they dominated the road, that is supposed to be for bikes and all other kinds of traffic as well. It opened my eyes to how they don’t just dominate the road, but the pedestrian spaces as well, how the vast road space doesn’t even move that many people and goods etc. It’s just a giant waste of space in cities. I have lived in very rural areas as well, and people have to realize that having to take the car everywhere is a big draw back. Having to concentrate in a car for 2 hours per day just isn’t great.
Driving can be fun. But honestly, mostly it isn’t, I would most of the time prefer a train or bike ride.
Any tips for cycling on roads with cars? It’d benefit me for getting around faster, but I’ve only done it once, and it was terrifying.
Don’t die. No, honestly I don’t have any tips :/
Maybe get proper light for your bike and turn it on if vision outside isn’t optimal. Don’t ride in the gutter, have space to feel comfortable, cars are going to overtake close anyways.
