I own a travel trailer and my wife and I love to travel around and see America. I haul the camper with a Ford F-250! Are we to believe that the environmentalists want us to be confined to where we live and not be allowed to travel around this great country and see the sites of wonder and natural beauty that this country has to offer??
Try hauling a camper with a bicycle!
In order to have “no cars”, there must be an extensive, 24-hour-a-day, public transportation system, nation-wide (i.e. UK, France). We live in a small village, up in the mountains, and without an automobile, you are literally stranded “in the middle of nowhere”. More realistic vision of the future: a combination of high-speed rail, buses, subways, and cars powered by natural gas and alternate fuels.
Unfortunately some would try to dictate you lifestyle or hobbies, it’s a shame how your choice is “bad” buy theirs are “good”. But this is America, drive and enjoy it.
I have been living in Paris France for the last 2 years. I do not own a car here, it would be a liability. I have a bicycle and I use public transportation. The metro and buses are great and the trains here go everywhere. The have a short term hourly bike rental scheme too. Also, $7 a gallon gas helps with the economics to justify the investment.
I understand the obstacles in the US to a similar plan, but we have to start somewhere. There are just too many cars with no passengers and too many unnecessary trips.
Good points. An additional issue is safety. On paper my commute looks like an ideal candidate for a bicycle commute. It’s only about 4 miles each way without a single stoplight. However during 6:30-8:30 AM and 3:30-6:00 PM the traffic is daunting and the roads are of the two lane variety. The speed limit is 45 MPH with the prevailing speed around 50 MPH. It would be near suicidal to attempt to ride a bicycle. It would also create a traffic hazard since the person on the bike would be traveling at about half the prevailing speed, and IMHO it would also be very rude to the other commuters to back up traffic (remember, this is a two land road with heavy traffic).
I never said that I wanted to stop anyone. But I really think that if the drivers licensing exam a little more difficult it would be better for everyone’s safety.
I think the weight classes that govern commercial trucks need to be moved down to different classes of passenger cars too.
I have a class A CDL with PTN endorsements. I have had it for years (even before there was such a thing as a CDL)
I had to take a test for everyone of those endorsements when Pa implemented the CDL back in 1990. I already had a license to drive any commercial truck but I still had to retest.
A girl or boy who took a test in a little car when he / she was 16 has not proven that they have the skills to drive a pickup.
And the trailer thing OMG do they ever need to require an endorsement for that.
Do you realize that the kid who took a test in a Hyundai is legally alowed to drive a 25,999 pound truck. Or pull a 9,999 pound trailer. That is downright scarey.
There is no way that the general public needs anything over 2,000 pounds and 60 HP.
And if you have a need or even if you “just want to” drive something bigger, no problem, you will just have to show that you have the skills to handle that larger vehicle in a safe manner.
Amen Joe,
Glad someone else feels the way I do about licensing-I also propose a share the road course with trucks.Some people are so clueless about trucks"off tracking?what are you talking about crazy truckdriver?" so says the sad owner of a vehicle thats just had its front end crunched by some 11x22.5 radials( give em room folks-its the Ackerman principal.those lines are there for a reason and dont fill in the margin in front of the truck that the driver has allowed for safety.
About the the CDL thing,we have had some horrible crashes around here with rental trucks-Kevin
in the 40s a lot of people still had horses. That cut into automobile ownership too!
However during 6:30-8:30 AM and 3:30-6:00 PM the traffic is daunting and the roads are of the two lane variety.
One road near my house that I have to traverse on the way to work is like that…Very heavy traffic during the morning and evening rush hours…No sidewalks…narrow road with idiots traveling at 20 OVER speedlimit.
I am also a pilot. I hold a “Private single engine land” rating That pretty much eliminates me flying anything other than a small 4 seat aircraft.
I can’t fly a Lear Jet or a 747, and that is a good thing because I have not been trained, I don’t know how, and I have never proven my skills to an FAA examiner.
Could I fly one if need be? Who knows but, I’ll guarantee you, I wouldn’t fly it very well.
Would I be safe,Hell No
I understand the obstacles in the US to a similar plan, but we have to start somewhere. There are just too many cars with no passengers and too many unnecessary trips.
The problem with living in a city is High-Crime, High-Taxes…Very little control over local government…High-Corruption with little hope of removing it from office.
Until these problems are addressed people will be moving out to the burbs…My dad added 2 hours to his commute every day to get out of the city. He didn’t want to raise his kids in a neighborhood of gangs and violence (which a good portion of the city was at the time). When it starts costing us too much we may have to move back in…but that’s not going to happen for at least 1-2 generations…maybe more.