Life Without Cars
Jeremy and Abidemi compare times in their lives when they drove cars and did not drive cars.
Speakers: Abidemi, Jeremy
Transcript
Track 1
Abidemi: So Jeremy, you donât have a car now but you had a car when you were younger. How do you find that?
Jeremy: Well, I mean, the reason I donât have a car now is because of money. I canât afford a car at this point. But itâs been many years since I actually owned a car. And Iâve gotten really used to taking public transit. And when you donât have a car for several years, you just get used to it and then I can sort of justify it to myself saying, âWell, Iâm doing my part for the environment. Iâm not emitting all those emissions onto the atmosphere, so this is small, small part for the world.â
But then when I think about how I canât take a road trip up into the mountains or go to the ocean or just enjoy my freedom, or I canât have 15 minutes where I get to listen to my own music and sing along in the car or just have that time to spend to myself, I really, really miss it, honestly. Some of my best times from my youth were actually just driving around with my friends. And I donât get that anymore. And even just to go out and pick something up from the supermarket on a rainy day, I donât have that convenience anymore. I mean, itâs not the worst in the world not having a car but sometimes, I really, really miss it.
What about you, Abidemi? I know you have transitâor you have transportation now. How do you enjoy that?
Abidemi: Thatâs true. I think my story is the opposite of yours actually, Jeremy. For the longest time, I didnât have a car or transportation. All I had was my bike or walking everywhere. And although I enjoyed that, I envied my friends who had cars and could just take off at any moment, go wherever they wanted to. Now I have a scooter and I absolutely love it. I would prefer a car on some days, itâs true, on those days or when itâs really cold and I need the heat of a car. But the convenience of having my scooter and the fact that itâs so cheap. I can go anywhere, anytime. I donât have to look for parking. The parking is free. I can leave it on the side the road somewhere and find it there and donât have to pay for parking. Yeah, I really enjoy that.
And it just feels cooler. I think wherever I live, wherever I go now, I wouldâeven if I do buy a car someday, I would always want to have a scooter or a motorbike because it's just somethingâI donât know, exciting.
Jeremy: As a scooter driver though, do you ever feel intimidated by the cars on the road? I mean, is it dangerous do you think driving a scooter around?
Abidemi: That is a very good question. Itâs true. When you talk about road rage, people beingâroad rage is one thing when itâs car versus car. But when youâre on a scooter and you canât go as fast as the other drivers, and they are behind you. Although, theyâre very polite, sometimes, they donât honk but you can feel them coming behind you.
So I try to drive as close to the edge as possible. At times, I just had to pull over because I donât want you to hit me. I know you want to get to where you want to go and youâre faster than me. So I just pull to the side, let the car pass and just go my way. So itâs true. It is safety. You have to be really safe and conscientious and just have to pay attention to what youâre doing.
Jeremy: Sounds like you have the right attitude as a scooter driver.
Abidemi: I try. I try. I want to be safe.
Jeremy: Yeah.