driving.

i'd imagine quite a few people on here do it, how do you find it, do you enjoy it, do you hate it, would you do it if you didn't have to?
I've only started driving recently for work and while there's no doubt it's great for getting around, that sitting in traffic lark is not for me at all, people must be stressed out of their nut sitting in that sh1te every day.
took the van home last night and then drove it back in to work this morning just to see what it would be like, jaysus never again.
I've been commuting by bike pretty much all my working life and I can't see that changing any time soon, I was flirting with the idea of getting my own little car but I honestly couldn't be doing with all that bollocks.
interested to read other people's views on it

 

I'll be honest,I despise public transport. The level of anti social behaviour on it has gone through the roof. I get the train to work when driving would put me in rush hour traffic,I dont know how people sit in that morning and evening 5 days a week but I still wouldnt be without my car. Like Gerry I work shifts so avoid it most of the time. Running 2 cars is expensive but I'd rather sacrifice in other ways than give mine up. Maybe when the kids are older and we can be more flexible with the one I'll get rid of it.

 

I'm quite happy on public transport most of the time as I love reading but it's pretty frustrating going about 10k into work and a bus takes an hour and the train at rush hour is completely rammed. Electrification of the line is being mooted but I've a feeling my 1 year old will be in college when it happens. I cycle most of the time from March/April on when the weather gets a bit better.

Couldn't survive without a car though, we're only running one at the moment and we've had no issues so far but that'll change soon enough I'm sure!

 

Electrification of the line wont make any difference to your journey pal.

 

Actually don’t mind sitting in traffic as long as I am not going to be late for something.

I listen to sports podcasts in the car all time and actually find it fairly relaxing. Luckily my hours in work are flexible so avoid rush hour in the morning But usually bad in the evening.

when I was young I used to get fairly wound up but the most peaceful time of the day I get these days is out for a run or in the car. Work is full on and house is wild most of the time with the kids.

In saying all that a clown pulled out in front of me coming home this avo and I lost it a bit for a second a few deep breathes and was back to my Podcast

 

Been driving about 15 years now. Never needed too when I live in Dublin but when I moved down to the country I had to learn quickly.

I moved back to Dublin a few years ago and used to have to drive to work from Tenenure to Sandyford every day. It drove me nuts. I hated it. I used to pass the Wexford sign every day and wished I could have gone back there.

In the end I did and the people down here were a lot better and a lot more relaxed . Cars weren’t in a rush the whole time. The Missus moved down eventually and when she moved down I’d have to tell her to slow down as it’s a different pace of life.

I love driving down here , and I love the ease of been able to hop into a car and away you go. Ask me to drive around Dublin City or Cork and I’d say not a chance in hell.

 

Couldn't be without a car. More to having a car than the commute to work. School drops, football training, food shopping.

I drive to work which takes between 20 mins and nearly an hour if I left at bad time on a wet tuesday. Public transport is relatively good and I know it will take 45 mins no matter what but driving is handy with having flexible working hours

 

I love driving but hate traffic.
When petrol was reasonable (0.99c was expensive at the time and could get 0.65c some places), I would hop in the car and go for a spin. Found it great freedom to get out in the car with music on

nowadays I have a 10-15 min commute by car, which would be 1 hr by public transport / walking / 20 mins by bike

I cycled to my last job as was 90% off road, along the canal paths towards broombridge
Now it would be 90% on roads, which puts me off

 

Driving in to work lately, as the missus is pregnant and getting around for her at the mo is tough.

How anyone drives to and from work daily is beyond me. The roads are a free for all, blocked yellow boxes are the norm and if you don't follow suit with getting in the yellow box you don't move. People leaving too much of a gap between cars while at a standstill in traffic is another gripe of mine, even a further yard closer to the car in front, makes a difference to traffic behind you. An hour and ten from Inchicore to Hatch Street yesterday morning !! A bit lighter this morning, with Friday traffic but still not great.

Another thing is, everyone on the road can obviously drive but a large percentage have no awareness to what goes on, on the road around them.

As you can tell, I'm not enjoying my commute to work these days. Give me my the totally unreliable Dublin Bus route, or walk to and from work any day over driving.

 

i've no doubt it's handy for stuff like that but could you honestly justify paying the cost of running a car just for those things if you weren't using it to commute to work?

 

I used to get the bus to work all the time when I worked City centre and had a car still. No kids either

Tend to get lazier and reliant on it. 15 mins walk to training or playschool but I drive in 3. Return trip its 20/25 mins time saving. I use it for everything to he honest unless I'm going drinking!

I live further out of town than you do so makes a difference I suppose. No chance I'd cycle 10km to work

 

Less than a week after posting this and I got rid of my car When I started to think about what it was costing me and how easily I could do without it, it became a very easy decision,out of laziness I'd convinced myself I really need it. I dont,we can manage with one. Said to myself that it will force me to walk more which is a good thing and ironically done my knee ligaments the next day,my knee is the size of my head and I can barely walk at all now

 

Just switch the insurance names at every renewal so you don’t lose your no claims bonus if you ever do go back to 2 cars.

 

Sorry to hear about the injury.

Check out GoCar, if you think you may need access to a second car from time to time - I know a couple of people using the service and they swear by it.

 

I use my car for work some days, get the bus others...

I've been driving around Dublin for years, often during peak hours, rarely bothers me, once I've something decent to listen to on the radio, or my own music etc. Granted, there's some gobshites on the road, be they in a car or on a bike, and we could really all benefit from getting those fools off the road, but otherwise, I rarely give a second thought to how much of my life is spent in the car (probably 25-35 hours M-F).

My bus service is great, its a regular service, very rarely let's me down. I just wish they'd improve the old WiFi on it a bit, as it grinds to a halt fairly quickly, when the bus is reasonably full.

I got the Red Line Luas a few weeks ago, middle of the day, midweek, couldn't believe the amount of headers on it. The authorities really need to sort it out permanently, crazy that it's overrun by druggies etc. Just looking around me, there were a few people on it seriously looked scared that they might be attacked etc.

 

I don't mind driving. I used to have to do a fair bit for work, not so much lately due to my location changing and basically being a five minute walk from all the people I represent. You see some awful driving on the roads though, I'm half glad I'm not out and about as much. Ironically the one bad crash I had came after I moved locations, got punted from behind on the M1 because a lad couldn't judge distances. I'm a fcuking awful passenger though, not a fan of not being in control

 

I'm sure I'm in a majority here but I have to say I absolutely love driving, I've no issue with getting into the car for a 3/4 hour stint but I suppose it's always going somewhere I want to go. The roads in Ireland have come on incredibly since I was a kid, you can cover most of the country on Motorways now and it's easy driving. I'm totally stress free on the roads too, I've learnt to let everything go whereas 10 years ago what someone else did used to drive me nuts, now I see the fruitlessness of it and just let it go and it's made me a much better driver.

 

took the van home the weekend cos I was in work yesterday and knew the traffic would be light, which it was.
can defo see the pros and cons, when there's not much on the roads it's actually pretty enjoyable.
was going down for an indian takeaway on Friday evening, would normally cycle but thought it'd be a great idea to drive down. couldn't get a parking spot at all, nightmare. gave up in the end.
had a few things to do yesterday and it would've been much handier to drive but the parking fees put me off, couldn't justify paying them.
how much would people usually spend on parking fees in a normal week?
also, with most/all of the schools on mid term this week, will the traffic be any lighter tomorrow morning?