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Comment by jefftk | Hacker News Reader

It's definitely possible; if you talk to parents who live in cities they'll generally be happy to describe how they do it.

(Raised two kids from 0 to 5y and 7y without a car. Started splitting a car about 6 months ago when we had a third child. Lots of walking, double decker stroller, bus, subway, and bike trailer.)

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Many things are possible, but I might not like doing them. It's totally fine for someone to not want cars and not use them. But it's too far to say nobody should be using them, no matter what. Not implying you said that (I know you just commented on the "unrealistic" part), but just referring to the general theme here.

I personally love driving. Since I was a kid, I always wanted to drive cars and even now, I enjoy the feeling of driving a car. One can argue about whether it's the best mode of transport, etc. but for me (and many like me), it's a pleasure of life.

Let's try to stop people from carrying assault weapons before we move to cars?

Cars directly kill 3x the amount of people by firearm homicide (in the US), along with an alarming increase in pedestrian deaths. Not saying we should ban cars everywhere or anything like that, but the status quo is not good enough.

I could have been more clear. The comparison to firearms was more to say it's really hard to stop people from doing things they like and want to do, even if they come at a cost to society. At least cars add to productivity and quality of life, while firearms don't (imo).

I personally love shooting sports. Since I was a kid, I always wanted to participate in shooting sports and even now, I enjoy the feeling of making a great shot. One can argue about whether it's the best mode of entertainment, etc. but for me (and many like me), it's a pleasure of life.

Let's try to stop people from operating heavy machinery which kills many multiples of people before we move to guns?

Note: I am personally pro individual car and gun ownership, just wanting to show you an alternate take on your statement. Personally I'm way more likely to die because of an incompetent driver than someone shooting me, so if I really wanted to reduce the risk of harm coming to me I'd prefer if we made it way more difficult to operate a car in public.

> it's too far to say nobody should be using them, no matter what. Not implying you said that (I know you just commented on the "unrealistic" part), but just referring to the general theme here.

What comments express that "general theme"? Is it possible that's a preconceived notion?

I was referring to "... cars aren’t allowed in major cities". In general, I don't think it's particularly controversial to say that some proponents of self-driving cars think human drivers are terrible and need to be taken off the roads.

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you meant that people with environmental concerns were saying it, which I rarely see. Yes, agreed, self-driving proponents do say it with some frequency.

Big brother / Tesla / Waymo will do your driving, will do it better than you. Just sit back.

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