this post was submitted on 24 May 2026
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Fuck Cars

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Before I began driving less, I had long had a melancholic sense that the city lifestyle I lived was cut off from the seasons and nature

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[–] CombatWombat@feddit.online 25 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Most drivers are more car than person:

Truth is, though, all I would have to do is get back in the shared car that still sits in my drive, and I’d be on the other side of the divide again. I do it every month or two – to reach some awkward location – and I’ve noticed that at first, I feel terribly anxious about the fragile bodies of pedestrians and cyclists, and almost ashamed to be blocking up their streets. And then, if I’m honest, my consideration begins to evaporate, and I slip back into seeing the world through a driver’s eyes again.

But the greater the intervals between driving, the more strongly I feel I don’t want to see the world through driver’s eyes any more. And not just because it’s dangerous, bound up with the fossil fuel industry, and about the worst thing we can do for the climate, but also because, for me at least, driving is a time-consuming and meaningless experience. In fact, the word “experience” is a stretch – I’ve started to wonder if it is more like the absence of an experience.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 10 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

It is crazy how angry car drivers can get. Saw someone screaming out their window at another driver today over some pointlessly small inconvenience.

I pointed and laughed.

[–] CombatWombat@feddit.online 8 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (4 children)

When cyclists and pedestrians accidentally inconvenience each other we just laugh and give a little wave. I think once you remove the cars from the equation, which removes the "I could kill you at any moment by depressing my foot" vibe from the encounter, it's a lot easier to be pleasant to each other.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 hours ago

Unless it's parents picking up their kids while they wait outside their cars... I find schools are awful to cycle past. Then once in their cars it's even worse.

In the UK all schools are within walking distance or they are required to provide free transport. You shouldn't ever have to drive them yourself on a regular basis unless you are training them to be lazy.

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 hours ago

You're right. Often, the primary emotion is fear when something goes wrong when driving. But it gets pushed out as anger.

The other factor is that driving is a lot more frustrating than walking or cycling, at least in the city. Stop-and-go causes stress to build up because you feel like you don't have control over your actions most of the time. That doesn't happen with walking.

[–] TaterTot@piefed.social 2 points 9 hours ago

There's a scene from the original Gundam that I think about a lot in this context.

The MC, having just gotten inside his giant death mech for the first time, is ordered to shoot some enemies (who had been trying to kill him just a moment prior) fleeing the battle. He couldn't do it.

The next fight that breaks out, those same enemies are back, in their own giant death machines, and the MC stops to think to himself "this is much easier, they don't look like humans now". Then he starts firing his laser.