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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday December 19 2018, @04:34AM
from the now-they're-buying...trucks? dept.
from the now-they're-buying...trucks? dept.
General Motors has announced it's shuttering five production facilities and killing six vehicle platforms by the end of 2019 as it reallocates resources towards self-driving technologies and electric vehicles.
[...] North American car production hit 17.5 million vehicles in 2016, and dropped marginally to 17.2 million in 2017. Interesting, but perhaps not significant.
More telling are changes in driver behaviour. In North America, for example, fewer teens are getting driver's licences. In 1983, 92 per cent of teens were licensed, while by 2014, that number had dropped to 77 per cent. In Germany, the number of new licences issued to drivers aged 17 to 25 has dropped by 300,000 over the last 10 years.
Are we over our love affair with cars?
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Can anyone remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:34AM (10 children)
I've lived in the Bay Area for close to a decade now without a car and haven't really felt disadvantaged. BART, VTA, or the bus can get me to 80% of the places worth going. Lyft and Uber can get the rest. I suspect it is the same in the other places where most of the population lives (i.e. the coasts). If you live in Oklahoma or North Dakota.....yeah you might still need to own a car. You are probably still using a dial-up modem too.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Sulla on Wednesday December 19 2018, @06:44AM (5 children)
What do you consider the places worth going?
For me my preferred time off is spent on a road trip. Driving to the coast, driving through the mountains, finding new roads that I have not taken in the past. While i am sure it is a smaller number of people than it used to be, i think regular road trips were part of a culture that is slowly fading. I personally have never cared about anything my local city provides. Dont care about bars, or downtown, or whatever the hell nightlife is, just want to get out and drive.
Its not all about just getting places, its about the journey.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @08:55AM (4 children)
You should consider Amtrak if your purpose for driving is to admire the scenery.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @11:02AM (2 children)
Or hitchhiking.
(Score: 3, Touché) by khallow on Wednesday December 19 2018, @01:28PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday December 19 2018, @02:36PM
Or go to Camp Nevermore and just start killing teenagers... you know, get out in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery. Finish up with running...and screaming...and hacking....
....OH yeah...
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Wednesday December 19 2018, @05:05PM
I like amtrak for that purpose. But from my town round trip to seattle or LA will cost 500 round trip for four people + infant at best. Same trip will cost me 200 bucks with a car.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday December 19 2018, @02:26PM (2 children)
That's really sad if you consider the Bay Area the parts of California "worth going to." BART does not go to Yosemite. You're not going to take Lyft to the Redwoods. The VTA does not go to Death Valley. Even the better parts of Marin are going to be a pain in the butt to get to without a car.
Do yourself a favor, and buy or borrow a car and take a nice road trip around your state. The northern coast leaves Southern California's in the dust. Mt. Shasta, Mono Lake, and the eastern flank of the Sierras are beautiful. Honestly, the best part of California is the part that is not the Bay Area (or LA).
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday December 19 2018, @03:44PM (1 child)
Sure, having a license makes sense.
Hiring a car is a great way to get out and see the world. But owning a car for day to day use and all that hastle? Get a week off, hire a nice car, go do your drive, great fun. The car you hire one week (or weekend) could be a convertable for a cuise down the coast, or an SUV into the moutains, or a truck or van for some moving, or perhaps just a fancy merc to go back to your hometown for a weekend.
Far better than having to own a fleet of cars that can do all that.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday December 20 2018, @07:04PM
Which puts licensed drivers aged 16 through 24 into a tough position, as I seem to remember that many car rental companies add a prohibitive surcharge for drivers who are under 25 or cross state lines. Do insurers even issue liability policies designed for drivers who drive only rental cars?
(Score: 2) by aclarke on Thursday December 20 2018, @12:23PM
Don't be an ass about not-California. Your negative and condescending attitude puts into question the validity of any other point you were trying to make.