Q&A highlight
Posted3 months ago
Key Takeaways
Viable alternatives to driving are the only answer at this point.
Especially dire is that many people cannot afford insurance. 15-30% of people are uninsured depending on the state. Fewer people are driving with licenses (9-10%) because they cannot afford the fines that come with being a poor driver and have no other options.
While an upper middle class family can afford to just keep shoveling money into the car fire, most families are being stretched thinner every year just to keep a car running.
Inflation is nothing new, and car culture survived the 1970 oil crisis. Viable EVs exist these days, so if there was a problem with the oil supply, we'd fare better than we did in the 70's.
Families being stretched thin are going to drive less if they can't afford gasoline/electricity for their car. There aren't dense cities for families being stretched thin to move to. Cities are also expensive, and worse, most cities in America aren't dense enough to properly be called cities! Changing cultural attitudes, along with Uber/Lyft, E-bikes/other personal electric vehicles may help the US lean away from its car culture, but there just isn't the density for it in most of America.
Cars are convenient as all hell, to the point that ~92% of American households have a car.
Poor people have been driving without insurance and without a license since there's been insurance and licensing. It's unfortunate, but the destitute have to make very difficult decisions as to which necessity not to deal with. If the AI-job-pocalypse comes to pass, then there will be more people discovering that they can live without electricity and other essentials.
The upper middle class family can afford, and will continue to afford to be able to buy upper middle class family cars and everyone else will buy their used cars when they're done with them. Some people will buy new Kias and Hyundais. Cars are really reliable these days. You can still buy a money pit of a car, but an ugly used Honda Civic or similar can still be had for $3,000 and will last approximately forever for the cost of gasoline, oil changes, and tires.
Stupid people buy cars they can't afford. That happens at all income levels, but is particularly harmful to poor people.
Because there are not viable alternatives to driving.
> most cities in America aren't dense enough to properly be called cities
Because we bulldozed through them to build a freeway and street system for cars.
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