The Automobile, friend or foe?

[Longdogs]

@Ullabi

Being wheelchair dependent I rely on my car to get me everywhere. Taking the bus to go shopping for example is out of the question for me. No plans on getting an electric car as there are so few places here where you can recharge the batteries. I’ll stick to my low petrol consumption car as long as I can

Same here Ulla. Is Sweden pushing for all electric cars like the UK is?

[Primus1]

I’d say more of a necessity, public transport is a joke , and expensive, folk need to travel more since most of our large employers have disappeared, or scaled down their workforce, cars are greener and safer than they’ve ever been.

[LongDriver]

For my wife and I, there can be no substitute for a gas engine car. Our one is a Suzuki and at zero annual road tax is obviously very fuel efficient. We do not cover a high annual mileage, so our contribution to the rising CO2 levels is minimal. If hydrogen for combustion was readily available, then I would consider the relatively simple conversion from petrol, but I doubt if this will be offered as there is too much big money tied up in electric cars and their batteries.

[d00d]

The Automobile, friend or foe?

It was good whilst it lasted.

In the 21st C. we should all be living in high-rise blocks, a room with a view, with conveyor belts to take us here & there. The idea of us living in the sticks with a personal automobile is becoming more no no. There will still be wheels to take us to far flung spots to see how folk used to live, they will be shared/hired. It’s not going to happen overnight.

[Ullabi]

@Longdogs

Same here Ulla. Is Sweden pushing for all electric cars like the UK is?

No, not pushing but you can get a government subsidy if you buy an electric car. Anyway with the lack of public charging points it’s not on the cards as far as I’m concerned.

[OldGreyFox]

@Ullabi

Being wheelchair dependent I rely on my car to get me everywhere. Taking the bus to go shopping for example is out of the question for me. No plans on getting an electric car as there are so few places here where you can recharge the batteries. I’ll stick to my low petrol consumption car as long as I can

Of course special dispensation on a personal level would be made for the disabled Ullabi…

[OldGreyFox]

@Dachs

Neither friend nor foe, I’d say, but individual mobility has become a necessity to some extent for which a car is not needed, though, except in rural areas. What you wrote about “the good old days” sounds a bit romanticised to me and is not due to the spread of automobiles alone.
“Healthier, slimmer, fitter”? Doesn’t life expectancy at that time tell us a different story? Didn’t people drop like flies?
“Fresh grown food”? In summer perhaps for those living in rural areas but it was not what we’d call a variety of fruit and vegetables. In winter people were starving and had a very monotonous diet that was not fresh at all. I’d say people had to work and shop locally and, thus, were also heavily dependent on employers and traders and at their mercy. I’m not in favour of applying the survival of the fittest- concept to human society. We had that once and the consequences are known.

The concentration process in the retail sector was not only caused by the automobile but would have happened anyway. The next big step in that process is online trading which was not induced by the automobile either.
The changes in life-style that you outlined were chiefly a result of the development of society with more and more capital being available and making inventions and changes possible but also of people’s convenience and expectations.

I agree that big changes will be unavoidable and ought to be implemented very soon. One element of that can be buying locally wherever possible. Why would apples have to be shipped all around the globe from NZ if they can be provided by local farmers? Would consumers be ready to accept ugly or less standardised food in this case so that we take a step closer to an environmentally sustainable food supply chain? Why would beer brewed in the north of a country also have to be offered in the south transported there by lorries? “Because we want it that way and there’s a demand for it”, people might say. Here it is again: people’s attitude and expectations.
As for individual mobility, if it’s to be maintained and I agree it is, then we need to find ways of reducing the carbon footprint. A mix of using electric cars, public transport, or e-bikes/bicycles besides conventional cars seems to be the solution for the foreseeable future.

There are plenty of things we can do to provide locally Dachs, our love of out of season foods must stop, it’s just ridiculous shipping food halfway around the world, it’s an expensive luxury we can do without. There are changes to society that did not originate from the rise of the motor car. But I believe most major changes were attributed to the private car hence this thread. Like it or not though, we can not continue down this path, congested roads, pollution and the energy wasted sourcing materials, building vehicles, and the fuel used driving them. There are some major changes coming concerning personal transport, it’s something that we can no longer afford, both environmentally and financially.

[Harbal]

@OldGreyFox

The Automobile, friend or foe?

I’ve just bought a bike, which I am hoping to spend many a happy hour riding when I finally make the break and retire. The trouble is, riding on the road scares me to death. So, from my point of view as a prospective cyclist, the automobile is my enemy. The fewer there are on the roads, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

[realspeed]

definately a friend. If I had not got one my next door neighbour some years ago would have died. His ladder slipped while cleaning an upstairs window and his hand went through the glass severing a good portion of his wrist.
Luckily i was there when it happened in my front garden. Cutting the story short on reaching the hospital i was told later on that another 5/10 minutes he would have died. Without my car and driving like an idiot!!!
He had 8 hours of surgery and umpteen pints of blood. The car was a life saver

[OldGreyFox]

@Harbal

I’ve just bought a bike, which I am hoping to spend many a happy hour riding when I finally make the break and retire. The trouble is, riding on the road scares me to death. So, from my point of view as a prospective cyclist, the automobile is my enemy. The fewer there are on the roads, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

One of the reasons my bike is languishing up in the loft Harbal, it was becoming a nightmare out on the roads, and Mrs Fox getting knocked off her bike and seriously injured didn’t help… There is the possibility that I might ride again when it get too much of a struggle to run, hence the bike still being in the loft and not flogged, but I fear Mrs Fox will never ride again…

[Harbal]

@realspeed

definately a friend. If I had not got one my next door neighbour some years ago would have died. His ladder slipped while cleaning an upstairs window and his hand went through the glass severing a good portion of his wrist.
Luckily i was there when it happened in my front garden. Cutting the story short on reaching the hospital i was told later on that another 5/10 minutes he would have died. Without my car and driving like an idiot!!!

Congratulations on being a hero, realspeed, but if your neighbour would stop going up ladders when he is obviously incompetent, and pay a window cleaner, you wouldn’t need to be polluting the atmosphere with your car.

PS. give my regards to your neighbour.

[realspeed]

@Harbal

Congratulations on being a hero, realspeed, but if your neighbour would stop going up ladders when he is obviously incompetent, and pay a window cleaner, you wouldn’t need to be polluting the atmosphere with your car.

PS. give my regards to your neighbour.

He has since passed away, this was 30 years ago but a life episode one does not forget. No hero just an on the spot reaction to save a life

[Harbal]

@OldGreyFox

I fear Mrs Fox will never ride again…

That’s a shame, Foxy, but no one could blame her.

[OldGreyFox]

@realspeed

definately a friend. If I had not got one my next door neighbour some years ago would have died. His ladder slipped while cleaning an upstairs window and his hand went through the glass severing a good portion of his wrist.
Luckily i was there when it happened in my front garden. Cutting the story short on reaching the hospital i was told later on that another 5/10 minutes he would have died. Without my car and driving like an idiot!!!
He had 8 hours of surgery and umpteen pints of blood. The car was a life saver

Had you not had a vehicle and he would have died it would have been terrible realspeed, but what about all those people who died in similar circumstances before anyone had personal transport? All the lives saved since we all have mobile phones, there must have been millions of people who died when a mobile phone would have saved them? What about all the people who are still dying because nobody knew how to administer CPR…? We all do our best to save a life but we can only do that with our limited resources…You neighbour was lucky but not a reason to make a personal vehicle essential.

[Harbal]

@realspeed

He has since passed away

So it was all for nothing. It sounds like he was determined to die, one way or another.

[OldGreyFox]

@Harbal

That’s a shame, Foxy, but no one could blame her.

Thanks Harbal…

Perhaps we could ride together someday Harbal…

Perhaps have a run down to the midlands and meet up with Spitty?

[realspeed]

@Harbal

So it was all for nothing. It sounds like he was determined to die, one way or another.

He lived for several years later

[Harbal]

@OldGreyFox

Thanks Harbal…

Perhaps we could ride together someday Harbal…

Perhaps have a run down to the midlands and meet up with Spitty?

That’s a fantastic idea, Foxy, but only if it’s off road.

[Harbal]

@realspeed

He lived for several years later

Some people prefer a slow death, realspeed.

[OldGreyFox]

@harbal

some people prefer a slow death, realspeed.