this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
191 points (96.6% liked)

Fuck Cars

15218 readers
858 users here now

A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

Rules

1. Be CivilYou may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.

2. No hate speechDon't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.

3. Don't harass peopleDon't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.

4. Stay on topicThis community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.

5. No repostsDo not repost content that has already been posted in this community.

Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.

Posting Guidelines

In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:

Recommended communities:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

"I just need to run in for a few minutes."

top 40 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 82 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Surely that's two double parked cars?

[–] xploit@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

3 I think, pretty sure there is a light coloured car behind the small Peugeot

[–] tkk13909@sopuli.xyz 66 points 4 days ago (1 children)

"Walkable streets means it's harder for first responders to get places" MFers when the cars are the things that end up blocking emergency vehicles:

[–] tazeycrazy@feddit.uk 6 points 3 days ago

Oh no I'm standing in the middle of the road with a fire engine coming for me. I guess I will stand over here and let them past.

[–] zurohki@aussie.zone 40 points 4 days ago

I don't understand why the fire fighters are upset, he clearly has his park-anywhere lights on.

[–] ugandan_airways@lemmy.zip 45 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Video ended too soon! They smashed that dumb fucker, right? Right?

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 23 points 4 days ago (4 children)

The bumpers on American fire engines are huge, and built to push cars right out of the way.

Similar to how they like to smash both windows and run hoses through cars parked in front of hydrants.

[–] webadict@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Similar to how they like to smash both windows and run hoses through cars parked in front of hydrants.

Anybody who thinks this is a joke: It is not. Most firefighters are retired military given weird fucking tools and a penchant to use them on anything. If they are legally allowed to smash your fucking windows, they will. They will use the Jaws of Life to tear your fucking car apart if they have to. Just imagine them like the police but the inability to kill people who don't (or, ya know, do) listen to them, with the same overzealousness, hero complex, and everything, but more respectable because they actually do serve and protect.

Firefighters= bears. With furniture.

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

The rest of them are pyros. But fun to hang out with.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I think it's important to note that they don't just like breaking the windows (they do), they also have to break the windows. They aren't using a garden hose. A firehose is stiff as shit and basically rigid when pressurized. It cannot go over or around your car because it lacks the turning radius. Don't park in front of fire hydrants!

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

True.

The ones I’ve seen also have had a fair amount of water damage. Which might be accidental, but seems a bit passive aggressive at best.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

UK fire engines aren't built that way. They aim to get the maximum amount of resources into a fixed volume. Limited by nature of UK roads, particularly in older cities.

A push bar would make the engine longer, and so have more issues with nasty bends. Alternatively, the engine is shorter, but then you have to reduce something else.

If only they had several big burley blokes to hand, with laws that allow property damage to save lives...

[–] axexrx@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I live on a narrow 1 way road, which unfortunately means cars tend to park all the way up on the sidewalk, generally an inch from my fence. (Which gets smashed once a ywar on average, but thats another story) One day someone decided to park over the yellow line, completely blocking off one of my houses 2 exits, and the one I needed to take my mom out to get her to a post surgery follow up. I tried to get the landscapers to move the truck and they refused, so I called the local FD, explaining someone was blocking my house entrance off.

They had a truck full of firemen over there in like 10 mins, with those steel breaker bars. Smashed the windows and passed a rope through the cab, Then climbed over the truck, rolled it over with the bars, then attached the rope to their hitch so they could drag it out and clear for the waiting flat bed wrecker to pick it up.

The vehicle owner had come back out after they smashed the windows and tried to move it himself but the fireman in charge wouldnt let him. Told him it was too late, and his guys 'needed the practice'

[–] ugandan_airways@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago

That’s absolutely wild. I bet that was really something to see. And you know the firemen loved it.

[–] matlag@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Based on the look of it, there is no "out of the way" you could smash that car, except stacking the car on top of another one belonging to an innocent.

One could consider breaking in and drive the car out of the way, but that's a technically complicated operation. Their best hope is the noise will get the driver's attention, and record the plate to send that driver a large fine.

[–] Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

They could push it forward and weave through.

But this engine doesn't seem to have much protection in the front so they'd likely risk breaking the front (radiator, fans, belts, other important components).

Update:

I asked an actual fireman and they said if their crew got in this situation they'd likely winch the car backwards. Alternatively they'd get out and drive/push the car forward by hand if possible.

If nothing works they reroute.

Pushing the with the engine is a last resort.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Damn, cyclist blocking the emergency vehicle again!

[–] tazeycrazy@feddit.uk 3 points 3 days ago

Bike lanes can be e-lanes if cars aren't In them and there is enough space

[–] Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca 20 points 4 days ago (2 children)

100% chance it's someone delivering crappy overpriced food

[–] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Could be a dealer dropping off?

[–] Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca 0 points 3 days ago

Yeh, fast food is like drugs. highly addictive and destructive to your body.

[–] tazeycrazy@feddit.uk 1 points 3 days ago

The dilveroo app is asking for ID on the vappes the guy ordered from the local tescos

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 11 points 4 days ago (2 children)

They should have sent somebody out to check on the person and forcefully move the car, break a window if they have to.

[–] borkborkbork@piefed.social 16 points 4 days ago (2 children)

have seen firetrucks in the US literally push cars out of the way. not good for either but lives are at stake. same with idiots that block hydrants - they want to do that, just open the doors (after popping a window or 4 to gain access) and run the hoses through the interior. if people want to play stupid games, they can win stupid prizes.

[–] greatwhitebuffalo41@slrpnk.net 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Not a fire fighter but I do work on hydrants in the US. I've def blocked a few people in and flushed hydrants at their cars before. They get big mad. I tell them to call the police and then they usually walk away.

[–] Typotyper@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I hope you break a window first so the car floods. Then maybe report the CSR to the police so their insurance gets voided

Lol I wish. I'm a private contractor so the business insurance would be very mad...

I’m sure that they are allowed to here, too.

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Gently push/ram it and send the owner a repair bill.

[–] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago

Exactly what I wanted to say!

[–] SuluBeddu@feddit.it 1 points 3 days ago

Huh, so it's not just Palermo...

[–] Grimtuck@lemmy.world -5 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Not sure why you hate cats so much when it's people that are clearly the problem. I hate people so damned much.

[–] Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 4 days ago

We love cats.

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If people are dumb then maybe they shouldn't be trusted with these deadly machines

Cars make people dumber