CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Yes!!!!!!!!!!! there is hope
(15 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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Andrew Howard, head of road safety for the Automobile Association, said the rise in older drivers reflected the growth of car sales decades ago. He said: “Today’s 70-year-old male is the person who turned 17 in 1959 just as the Mini and other things revolutionised motoring. Those slightly older people would have learned to drive in National Service or during the Second World War.”
Yes, my father's generation cannot imagine life without a car. Luckily, some younger people are more open minded (though not all).
Posted 13 years ago # -
I take it arithmetic and history were not Mr Howards strong points at school? My dad was 70 last year, he missed national service and certainly wasn't learning to drive during the war, being waaaay too young. Since when was more than a decade "slightly older"?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Probably they edited his quote: he's referring to two distinct generations: those who fought in the war and those born during or just after it (who became young mini owners).
Posted 13 years ago # -
This is really great news, and crucially the article has quotes from a lot of people saying that this is a good thing and not trying to figure out how to try and get more people driving. I think this is a real change in attitude.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I'm of the generation (nothing to do with age) that 'couldn't live without a smartphone' - I think this is becoming 'true' for a lot of people.
If at the younger end low wages, student loan repayments etc. means its a choice between a top-end phone and a low-end car I think there will be much less peer pressure to get the car. (Not forgetting that you can run a decent 'phone for the cost of just car insurance.)
I'm sure many of their parents would have buckled in a bike v car contest - if they'd even thought about it.
There is one slight problem, teenagers who usually have good 'phones and may or may not aspire to car ownership - are less likely to cycle.
There are various reasons including inadequate secure bike parking at schools (Edinburgh is better than most places). But it's mostly social - all your friends need to have a bike (they've probably grown out of the one they had at primary school) and have the confidence to ride on present day roads - preferably in a group...
Certainly teenage ownership/use of a bike is no longer 'weird' - outside of hard-core MTBing or Saughton Skatepark use - in the way it once was.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sadly, rather than signalling the emergence of an eco-concious generation, I suspect the decline in teenage drivers simply reflects the enormous cost of insurance compared to when folk such as I learned to drive. This discourages a lot of teenagers from aspiring to drive (thankfully) although sadly not my own daughter who is stumping up £70/month for the privilege of the odd run out in her Mum's flivver.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I don't work in one of the least well off parts of town but neither is it a leafy, wealthy suburb. I'm regularly amazed at the number of senior pupils who drive into school.
Number 1 son is 21 and I'm not intending to insure a car for him (or indeed his brothers when the time comes) as the cost is just stupid.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I don't work in one of the least well off parts of town but neither is it a leafy, wealthy suburb. I'm regularly amazed at the number of senior pupils who drive into school.
Yes, it's much more expected to have a car as a young person, despite the cost. When I was a student in the 1980s I think I knew two or three guys who ran cars, they were all a bit older, had been working before studying, etc. Now lots of students have cars, I don't know how they afford it.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I work in a school with a number of 'less well off' pupils. It is not uncommon to have a small number fo 6th years who drive to school. They work part-time and since they live at home will spend all their earnings, perhaps along with EMA, to pay the £2000+ insurance and other running costs.
A large number of pupils look upon cycling as signifying 'poor person'.
I'd raise the minimum driving age to 30, to promote active travel and prevent obesity in the young, but I guess some need to drive for their work. [What a strange World it would be if I ruled it!] .
Posted 13 years ago # -
I'd vote for you. If you like, I have some experience with election campaigns...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I'm not sure you'll need to vote for me, the older I get the less convinced I become of the merits of democracy.
I'm planning World power by some other means.
Posted 13 years ago # -
They work part-time and since they live at home will spend all their earnings, perhaps along with EMA, to pay the £2000+ insurance and other running costs.
A lot of FE and HE students do the same thing. I always used to assume that many students no longer went to another city to study any more because of the ending of grants. Probably for a significant number it's actually so that they can put their part-time earnings into running a car.
Bicycles make so much more sense in so many ways...
Posted 13 years ago # -
More than just hope, there is evidence...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Car use has gone down across the capital, with the exception of the outskirts.
For 'outskirts' I read 'most of the rest of the UK' ie. anywhere that does not have a congestion charge. I'd be surprised if this was not the case.
Posted 13 years ago #
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