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Yithar t1_j2ekqns wrote

Reply to comment by overnighttoast in Opinion | D.C. needs more bike lanes, and fast by Maxcactus

> I truly do not understand why this sub hates cars so much.

Some people will always drive, but we really should act to reduce cars and encourage people to take transit as much as possible. Because cars simply cost a lot in healthcare costs, infrastructure costs, congestion and pollution.

There have been recent posts about cars killing people, like this one or this one. So I imagine that contributes to the dislike of cars. Because less cars means less accidents.

"Although I do drive sometimes, I also acknowledge that cars are the source of a lot of problems in our cities."

Also, the very fact of the matter is that owning a car is expensive (loans, insurance, gas, repairs) so if we're talking about less well-off residents, we should be encouraging them to not use cars and we should do our best to make public transit better. Yes, sometimes transit takes longer, but if you want that convenience then you pay a high premium for that.

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overnighttoast t1_j2elpty wrote

All of your points are fair but I'm talking about the many comments or posts that are essentially "f*** cars and all people who own them are stupid and bad people." And it particularly bugs me because many of these folks are non natives who ignore the gentrification point I made above.

I'm 100% for better infrastructure and safety but again you don't have to shit on people in a quest for that.

In terms of expenses, if youre in a paid off car, a neighborhood with permit and street parking etc, it's not that expensive to have a car. Particularly when you consider the convenience of it. Time is money, again I'll use groceries as an example, if the same trip is 30 minutes longer because you're walking or taking the bus, that's A LOT of time for people who work two jobs or have kids, or anything. Now insurance has gone up recently and sometimes gas does, but you're really not paying for repairs if your car is reliable. Again, technically a valid argument, but costs aren't just monetary, for folks who spend so much of their time at work or taking care of children the convenience of a car does add up.

Eta: thank you for responding so thoughtfully.

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placeperson t1_j2fc77c wrote

> "f*** cars and all people who own them are stupid and bad people."

I would wager that the vast majority of people who explicitly say "fuck cars" would not say "all people who own them are stupid and bad people." Many of them probably own cars themselves. They just want to see cities designed with other forms of transportation prioritized.

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