Adults who don't drive

McGrath5

This is an issue I am encountering more & more lately.

Adults, both men and women in their 30s who have never learned how to drive, yet expect people who do drive to chauffeur them around. This might be to and from work or to bring them on a shopping trip or to a social gathering.

Between insurance, fuel, tax & maintenance the cost of running a car is only going one way yet non drivers rarely if ever offer anything to cover the cost of a journey.

Most non drivers will happily boast how they save a fortune by not owning and running a car yet are happy to rely on people who do drive to cart them around.

My girlfriend, who has her own car, also comes across the same issue, both adult children in their late 20s & early 30s who have never bothered to learn.
I would even go as far to say I would not date somebody who doesn't drive, it must be a right pain in the ar*e for one person to be stuck driving all the time.

I totally understand if somebody cant drive due to a health reason, this is not who I am aiming this at, more at the lazy non drivers among us.

SteelyDanJalapeno

I'm in a relationship, we need 1 car between the 2 of us, we split the cost 50/50 and save a small fortune.

EdgeCase

As compelling and urgent as the ecological arguments are, I think when you look at the likely outcome over the next decade or two, all that's going to happen is petrol/diesel based cars will be increasingly replaced by electric cars and the battery technology will improve to the extent that they're every bit as practical.

There's a huge freedom in having access to a car and Ireland's just not generally built to suit exclusive use of public transport.

Foweva Awone

I'm 33 and I don't currently have a car - absolutely no need for it, as I live and work in Dublin city centre and I have a free travel pass, so it would be a complete waste of money that I don't have to spare.

I'm able to drive though, I did the lessons and passed my test when I was 18/19 and got my first car shortly afterwards ... I'd hate not to have the option of driving, it leaves you very limited in terms of where you can live and work. I'm lucky with the excellent public transport where I live, but it's not so good in other areas.

I definitely don't rely on others to ferry me around, I rarely accept lifts from others, and when I do I pay my way. I've owned cars so I know what a pain in the arse it is when people expect a free taxi!

dxhound2005

McGrath5 wrote: »

This is an issue I am encountering more & more lately.

Adults, both men and women in their 30s who have never learned how to drive, yet expect people who do drive to chauffeur them around. This might be to and from work or to bring them on a shopping trip or to a social gathering.

Between insurance, fuel, tax & maintenance the cost of running a car is only going one way yet non drivers rarely if ever offer anything to cover the cost of a journey.

Most non drivers will happily boast how they save a fortune by not owning and running a car yet are happy to rely on people who do drive to cart them around.

My girlfriend, who has her own car, also comes across the same issue, both adult children in their late 20s & early 30s who have never bothered to learn.
I would even go as far to say I would not date somebody who doesn't drive, it must be a right pain in the ar*e for one person to be stuck driving all the time.

I totally understand if somebody cant drive due to a health reason, this is not who I am aiming this at, more at the lazy non drivers among us.

The way I read this is that you are annoyed with one person who is taking advantage. And you then generalise about everyone who does not drive. How could you know what most non drivers think?

dxhound2005

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The way I read this is that you are annoyed with one person who is taking advantage. And you then generalise about everyone who does not drive. How could you know what most non drivers think?

Correct, the OP has framed opinion disingenuously. Which means there's little point in engaging the matter.

McGrath5

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The way I read this is that you are annoyed with one person who is taking advantage. And you then generalise about everyone who does not drive. How could you know what most non drivers think?

Not annoyed, its bemusement if anything. And its far more than one person.

If a non driver lives and works close to Dublin city center, its probably doable. Living anywhere else, forget it.

Grayson

I don't drive. i don't have a license either. I have bought the book for the theory test because I think it would be handy to have a license. Not for here though, but for when I'm in the US for work. I just spent a month there and you really do need a car there.
Here I don't and haven't ever really needed it. My commute time would be marginally faster by car but then I wouldn't be able to sit in a bus and read a book every morning.There have been a couple of times when I would have found a car handy but honestly it's not worth the expense. I'd be paying extra to shorten my commute time by 15 minutes each way but I'd be losing that time that I take to relax. And if I got a car but still got the bus to work, I'd be throwing money down the drain. If i had a family and kids it would be a different story, but I can't see any reason to spend all that money, for little benefit, especially when it's just clogging up the roads more and damaging the environment.

btw, I'm 43. I guess the Op would call me an adult child and say I'm undateable.

Deebles McBeebles

I don't drive or live in Dublin, WHAT AM I TO DO?????

Grayson

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

I don't drive or live in Dublin, WHAT AM I TO DO?????

Die alone apparently.

somesoldiers

I didn't drive til I was 39, never needed to as lived near dart line for work, would take odd taxi, wife drives.

I drive now as I moved out of Dublin, costs me a small fortune, insurance e100 pm, diesel e200, tolls e100, finance e300, tax e20, NCts, new tyres etc never have a bean

Birneybau

I don't drive and couldn't give a fcuk what some random internet person thinks of it

bear1

McGrath5 wrote: »

This is an issue I am encountering more & more lately.

Adults, both men and women in their 30s who have never learned how to drive, yet expect people who do drive to chauffeur them around. This might be to and from work or to bring them on a shopping trip or to a social gathering.

Between insurance, fuel, tax & maintenance the cost of running a car is only going one way yet non drivers rarely if ever offer anything to cover the cost of a journey.

Most non drivers will happily boast how they save a fortune by not owning and running a car yet are happy to rely on people who do drive to cart them around.

My girlfriend, who has her own car, also comes across the same issue, both adult children in their late 20s & early 30s who have never bothered to learn.
I would even go as far to say I would not date somebody who doesn't drive, it must be a right pain in the ar*e for one person to be stuck driving all the time.

I totally understand if somebody cant drive due to a health reason, this is not who I am aiming this at, more at the lazy non drivers among us.

That's a pretty pompous post.
I don't get the adult children part, so if someone over the age of 18 doesn't have a licence then they are somewhat a burden on others who have a car and are therefore children?
If someone lives in the city, has all their work in the city, their family in the city and have access to public transport then what reason is there to own a car?
Granted, it's extremely handy but I only really see the need for a car if you live outside a main city.
The West/Northwest for example I would argue a car is a complete necessity.
It's an odd thing to be annoyed about tbh.
You don't mention if you drive?

spurshero

Birneybau wrote: »

I don't drive and couldn't give a fcuk what some random internet person thinks of it

Lol. Your right !

gmisk

Grayson wrote: »

I don't drive. i don't have a license either. I have bought the book for the theory test because I think it would be handy to have a license. Not for here though, but for when I'm in the US for work. I just spent a month there and you really do need a car there.
Here I don't and haven't ever really needed it. My commute time would be marginally faster by car but then I wouldn't be able to sit in a bus and read a book every morning.There have been a couple of times when I would have found a car handy but honestly it's not worth the expense. I'd be paying extra to shorten my commute time by 15 minutes each way but I'd be losing that time that I take to relax. And if I got a car but still got the bus to work, I'd be throwing money down the drain. If i had a family and kids it would be a different story, but I can't see any reason to spend all that money, for little benefit, especially when it's just clogging up the roads more and damaging the environment.

btw, I'm 43. I guess the Op would call me an adult child and say I'm undateable.

Similar to this, I am 37 dont drive and never have, I live along a bus and luas route for work or if I want to go into town.
I can walk to supermarket etc and regularly do.


If I want to go home to see my folks, I get the train, I dont rely on anyone to give me a lift etc.

My partner drives so sometimes he drives places but only if its his choice.

beauf

McGrath5 wrote: »

...
I would even go as far to say I would not date somebody who doesn't drive, it must be a right pain in the ar*e for one person to be stuck driving all the time.
..

They'd have more money though... Think of that. Probably fitter healthier from all the walking they do also.

If you have a car you tend to use it even when you don't really need to. Most people I know without cars don't seem to miss it all that much.

Even when I have another driver, I prefer to drive. Only on very long drives or am unable to drive am I glad I can rely on others.

silverharp

I think you need to be a special kind of idiot not to learn to drive, nobody is suggesting you have to have a car after that, but get the fekin test and don't be a leech in the future especially if you end up with a significant other.

bear1

silverharp wrote: »

I think you need to be a special kind of idiot not to learn to drive, nobody is suggesting you have to have a car after that, but get the fekin test and don't be a leech in the future especially if you end up with a significant other.

Odd..
So you take the test, get your licence and then never drive.
You in turn forget how to drive and lose confidence and therefore need to start again.
You essentially end up throwing money away.

Badly Drunk Boy

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

I don't drive or live in Dublin, WHAT AM I TO DO?????

Same here. I live in a relatively big town with good amenities, a mile from where I work, and don't particularly like cars, (and utterly despise car-talk).

I don't need a car and rarely ask for a lift anywhere. Sometimes when I don't ask for a lift going somewhere or to do something, my brother asks why I didn't ask him to bring me. Because I can sort myself out, whether it's by walking, cycling, public transport, or taxi.

And I'm a 45 year old adult child.

begbysback

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

I don't drive or live in Dublin, WHAT AM I TO DO?????

Move to Dublin and buy a car - simples

Dr. Bre

No excuses for adults not to learn. Automatic is real easy if having problems with manual

Birneybau

Dr. Bre wrote: »

No excuses for adults not to learn. Automatic is real easy if having problems with manual

Plenty of excuses, as outlined in previous posts.

antodeco

Foweva Awone wrote: »

I'm 33 and I don't currently have a car - absolutely no need for it, as I live and work in Dublin city centre and I have a free travel pass, so it would be a complete waste of money that I don't have to spare.

Jesus, make sure you don't post in that other thread. Especially if you got in in Athy!

kona

Kids should be thought how to drive in transition year. If they pass their test/exam then their licence is issued when they are 17.

jam_mac_jam

I don't drive. Don't ask for lifts. Live beside a train station so it rarely bothers me. If anything I am always turning down lifts as drivers think there is no other way. There are taxis and public transport bikes,your feet.
I walk a lot and am the same Weight as twenty years ago. Maybe if people drovery less there would be less faties around.

gmisk

silverharp wrote: »

I think you need to be a special kind of idiot not to learn to drive, nobody is suggesting you have to have a car after that, but get the fekin test and don't be a leech in the future especially if you end up with a significant other.

Im special!!! thanks

jam_mac_jam

kona wrote: »

Kids should be thought how to drive in transition year. If they pass their test/exam then their licence is issued when they are 17.

Yeah we really need more teenagers on the road.

Foweva Awone

antodeco wrote: »

Jesus, make sure you don't post in that other thread. Especially if you got in in Athy!

Ah but I have the free travel pass AND I work, so maybe I'm sort of an exception?

jam_mac_jam

Dr. Bre wrote: »

No excuses for adults not to learn. Automatic is real easy if having problems with manual

What about not being ared as you don't have to.

Yer Da sells Avon

Dr. Bre wrote: »

No excuses for adults not to learn. Automatic is real easy if having problems with manual

No excuses, but lots of perfectly valid reasons. There are already too many cars on the roads anyway. Also, I got my D licence recently, so my continued employment relies upon some people choosing not to drive.

kona

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Yeah we really need more teenagers on the road.

Plenty of 17 year olds can afford to run a car alright.

Driving is a life skill and can be beneficial to getting employment.

facehugger99

I suspect most adults who don't drive would make very poor drivers, therefore I support their decision to stay off the road - there's enough bad drivers out there already.

Greyfox

McGrath5 wrote: »

I would even go as far to say I would not date somebody who doesn't drive, it must be a right pain in the ar*e for one person to be stuck driving all the time.

So it's ok for you to assume all non drivers are the same? I'm a 38 year old non driver who will never own a car due to the insurance rip off but I never ask people for a lift. Stop assuming everyone that doesn't drive is the same.

_Kaiser_

Didn't start driving until my early 30s but it was the piss poor public transport and losing so much time waiting for it and then trundling along the wandering routes that finally made me get a car. This was in Dublin too.

Haven't looked back since. Couldn't go back to public transport.

silverharp

bear1 wrote: »

Odd..
So you take the test, get your licence and then never drive.
You in turn forget how to drive and lose confidence and therefore need to start again.
You essentially end up throwing money away.

its like riding a bike and its easier to learn in your teens and early twenties than in your 30's or god forbid your 40's. You could always take a refresher lesson if you need to.

Greyfox

silverharp wrote: »

I think you need to be a special kind of idiot not to learn to drive, nobody is suggesting you have to have a car after that, but get the fekin test and don't be a leech in the future especially if you end up with a significant other.

This is the silliest post of 2018, why would anybody bother getting a licence if they have no intention of driving? Also there's no need to say such a thing about people who will never need a car, if your living in the city you'll never need a car

DavyD_83

bear1 wrote: »

Odd..
So you take the test, get your licence and then never drive.
You in turn forget how to drive and lose confidence and therefore need to start again.
You essentially end up throwing money away.

Hasn't stopped a lot of ppl on the road .
I eventually learned to drive during an unemployed stint in my 20's. Its a handy skill to have, but I hate being reliant on driving places.
What I really don't understand is ppl who never learned to ride a bike or swim.

silverharp

Greyfox wrote: »

This is the silliest post of 2018, why would anybody bother getting a licence if they have no intention of driving? Also there's no need to say such a thing about people who will never need a car, if your living in the city you'll never need a car

how can you predict the future like that? I think you would risk going on the undatable list. Would you honestly want to have a family with someone who wouldn't learn to drive, leaving the partner to drive everywhere, shopping , kids, nights out.

jam_mac_jam

silverharp wrote: »

how can you predict the future like that? I think you would risk going on the undatable list. Would you honestly want to have a family with someone who wouldn't learn to drive, leaving the partner to drive everywhere, shopping , kids, nights out.

Then you learn to drive when they have kids or need to. I wouldn't want to date somebody who was so narrow minded.

beauf

silverharp wrote: »

how can you predict the future like that? I think you would risk going on the undatable list. Would you honestly want to have a family with someone who wouldn't learn to drive, leaving the partner to drive everywhere, shopping , kids, nights out.

I think you are so used to having a car, you can't imagine people who don't want or need one.

jam_mac_jam

sugarman wrote: »

I can but I chose not to. Absolutely no need living in Dublin.

I walk to work as it can take almost as long driving with the school traffic.

Theres several bus routes on my door step and a Luas not that much further if I need them but generally the only time I need to go anywhere, its out for a drink and I wouldnt be driving anyway.

I was insured for a few years as a named driver on the family car, but I must have only used it a dozen times at the cost of a few hundred a year.

Not driving has probably contributed to an extra €2-3k a year into my mortgage savings.

You are obviously an idiot saving so much money like that

bear1

silverharp wrote: »

its like riding a bike and its easier to learn in your teens and early twenties than in your 30's or god forbid your 40's. You could always take a refresher lesson if you need to.

But it's as I said.
Getting your licence is a pretty expensive endeavour and if you never intend to drive then it's money wasted.
To then go out and have to learn how to drive again is yet again more money wasted.
The more time goes by the more cars change and what you were used to driving 20 years ago just to get your licence will be a totally different experience to driving now.
Personally I needed and wanted my licence the moment I was able to and always will need it but I wouldn't tarnish everyone with the same brush that they must get a licence.

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Dr. Bre wrote: »

No excuses for adults not to learn.

Somebody who is 27 today would have been 17 when the financial crisis hit. Unemployment spiraled up to about 15%, and taxes increased very significantly on anyone who was working. New requirements such as 12 mandatory lessons with a qualified driving instructor were introduced, which also increased the cost of learning to drive. And insurance quotes for learners and novice drivers went through the roof.

Even the cost of sitting a driving test increased significantly, from €38 to €75 in April 2009. The price went up again to €85 in February 2011. The dole was cut to €100 a week for under-25s, meaning that it would have cost nearly a full week's dole to sit the test.

This combination of increased costs, lower household income, and reduced employment prospects mean that many parents at the time could not afford to put their teenagers on the road, and many young people, lacking jobs and incomes, couldn't afford it by themselves. So to say that there are no excuses is wrong.

Steve F

Birneybau wrote: »

I don't drive and couldn't give a fcuk what some random internet person thinks of it

I like you.I like you a lot

engiweirdo

Never learned to drive, had the learner licence now twice, cost of starting is prohibitive without a decent income. Min 12 lessons + test then €2500 -€3000 to insure some tin can, maybe sabe a few quid on insurance by spending more on the bloody car. It's pretty much turned absolutely away from Mr Fords vision and become a toy for the (relatively) wealthy.

silverharp

beauf wrote: »

I think you are so used to having a car, you can't imagine people who don't want or need one.

Life gets complicated, I drive very little but that goes up and down based on circumstances and commute by bike so I love not driving, my question would still be how can you predict the future, I can guarantee that there is a good chance you would turn off someone of your preferred gender at sometime in the future.

Mrs OBumble

silverharp wrote: »

how can you predict the future like that? I think you would risk going on the undatable list. Would you honestly want to have a family with someone who wouldn't learn to drive, leaving the partner to drive everywhere, shopping , kids, nights out.

I'm 50-ish, and used to own a car. Now live in Galway city, bus to work, walk or bus to and from the supermarket. Use on-line shopping when I'm unable to carry my own groceries home. Hire a car when I want or need one. Strong supporter of using shared, professionally driven, transport (bus / train) whenever possible.

But even so I think that driving is something that all young adults should learn to do.

Saying "I'll learn when I need to" doesn't cut it - because often that need arises out of an emergency change to someone's life, and you don't have the luxury of a year or two's notice.

There's also a longer term reason: my mother never learned to drive. When she got old and couldn't walk anymore, she simply wasn't able to get the hang of using an electric wheelchair - the nurses reckoned that it was because she hadn't driven. Right pain in the a** for everyone else who had to push her around all the time, despite the technology existing for her to self-propel.

jam_mac_jam

silverharp wrote: »

Life gets complicated, I drive very little but that goes up and down based on circumstances and commute by bike so I love not driving, my question would still be how can you predict the future, I can guarantee that there is a good chance you would turn off someone of your preferred gender at sometime in the future.

Maybe you wouldn't be interested in somebody of the gender who was so shallow.

Supercell

My wife is an adult who doesn't drive and likely never will.
She failed her driving test 3 times though and would likely fail another 300 as apparently turning your head when driving is impossible to do...

jmayo

silverharp wrote: »

I think you need to be a special kind of idiot not to learn to drive, nobody is suggesting you have to have a car after that, but get the fekin test and don't be a leech in the future especially if you end up with a significant other.

I do agree that everyone in this day and age and especially in this country should have the skill of being able to drive, even if only an automatic.

Now of course it doesn't mean they have to drive, they have to own a car or indeed that it stops one from being a leech on others.
Being a leech is a character trait and is independent of being able to drive or not

Of course some will say they don't need to, but just look at Grayson's example.
He is now working in states for period of time and he can't hire a car, even if just for a weekend to explore surroundings.

You never know when it might be very handy, whether for work, for personal reasons or for pleasure to be able to walk into a car hire firm to hire a car.

Even from perspective of holidays it is so limiting not to be able to drive.

Not being able to drive severely limits one's independence.

Dj Stiggie

I don't drive. I had a provisional and was learning, but moved to Berlin when I was 19 and never needed to drive. I live in Copenhagen city centre now so I cycle everywhere or take amazing public transport when I need to. But yeah, I'm thick or whatever.