Living without a car. What a load of middle class clap-trap! Sure, cars may kill more people every year than all the world’s wars. And, yes, cars pump out nearly a fifth of the globe’s greenhouse gases each year. But having just finished one job and travelling to my next with rain falling heavy on my head, how can I – a mere mortal – fit the daily schedule of work, shopping and family commitments into one day without a car and still keep sane?
Not possible, I think, as I’m stomping around the bus-stop. This is the third time I’ve tried to give up the car. During the first attempt – in November last year – I was running for election as a local government Councillor in Frankston in southeastern Australia. The campaign lasted two months; my car-free life two days. Lugging around boxes of pamphlets over 27 square kilometres on foot as I tried to canvass 30,000 homes turned out to be impractical. But as I talked with voters, a string of stories about speeding hoons1 in their streets reminded me why I should try again.
