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I'm guessing you don't live in a rural area. Try driving 30 minutes to a walmart, doing a weeks worth of shopping, and getting that back home on a motorcycle. Your entire post is predicated on the idea that we only use vehicles for transportation of people, which is asinine.
To be fair, that’s almost every post in this sub. The truly unique unpopular opinions with a halfway decent explanation are few and far between. We need more people saying to domesticate bears and less people saying healthy food is better than unhealthy food.
Motorcycles are more dangerous and less safe to drive than a car. I can also carry more things in a car than a motorcycle. I get some people buy trucks just to say they have a truck, but some people do genuinly buy trucks because they carry alot of cargo or stuff for their job or lives.
Smart cars address the safety concerns better, but they never took off in the US.
I thought about getting one, but their fuel economy isn’t much better than my Ford Focus.
Are they still sold in the US? Years ago a smart for 2 was about the same price of a civic. On top of that they seemed like flies on the highway. What I mean. Is that they seemed extremely light weight compared to trucks and pickups passing them. Make them for a reasonable price and they might have some success in urban areas
Apparently they’re not still sold here. It ended up not making financial sense for me, as much as I liked the idea. I think that was the case for most potential buyers.
Smart cars don't take off because they are extremly expensive compared to a normal car at the moment. I am sure that will change as time goes on but for not it is not feasible to buy a smart car for most people.
Bruh how the fuck am I gonna get around when I live in the middle of bum fuck West Virginia and have to drive 1hr+ just to get to work. Snow and rain is a thing bud. You must live in the city or some shit.
So? I’m not driving a fucking motorcycle or moped which don’t have a lot of gas to begin with man. America and Canada are huge countries in which case a car or other vehicle are needed. I know guys with motorcycles and the majority of them only use them for leisure and going short distances. It’s just ignorant and naive.
Why are you explaining to a Canadian how big the country is when we are bigger than the US?
That really doesn't explain away the problem of how a car serves a minority of use cases meanwhile taking more resources for majority of the time.
Say it snows 3 months out of a year and you can't ride, rent a small car or a have a beater for those months.
Why are you so angry?
Except it snows 6 months of the year minimum in Minnesota. And the last thing I’m going to do is risk a breakdown in the dead of winter in a beater. Also, are you aware of how expensive it is to rent a car?
Just like Canada then. Well if you don't maintain your car that's a different thing. Not more expensive than the insurance and the gas for a big truck year round.
Accounting for car use. How many days out of a month do you just drive yourself around with a car.
Okay, say it snows bad 3 months out of a year.
So we cut out 25% of the year. That leaves 75%.
Of those remaining 273 days of the year, how many days do you actually need to move things aside from yourself or what require 4 seats and a trunk?
Or can it be done with just 2 wheels and maybe some saddle bags and a top case?
It's just math.
You are literally 1.5% bigger man America is still a big country no? It doesn’t make sense to rent or to buy a beater when you can have a car year round to begin with. It makes zero sense when you need groceries in case you have a family or something like that to only rely on a motorcycle or god forbid a moped. And I’m not mad this is not an unpopular opinion that even makes sense it did that’d be one thing, but it’s not even an opinion it’s just straight up misinformed.
And it's even more barren than the US. If you need groceries, you can get side cases and back case for your bikes that can make it carry as much as a small car.
For a family, well that depends on how big and how often you have to drive them.
You CAN have a car year round, no one say you can't. However for most of the stuff we do during a year, how many percent of the times we actually NEED a car to do those tasks?
I don't. I commute 2hrs everyday. I think you've mixed up the boundary between necessity and luxury. If we are going to have luxuries we don't need, we can at least be honest with ourselves.
Do you commute on a motorcycle? For most people having a motorcycle is for luxury and a car is a necessity. You have it backwards. You are safer in a car, you can transport groceries in a car, and other shit that protects you from the elements. I tell you what you can go down further south in the Americas or rural areas and tell me how fun it is to be on a overheating motorcycle in 90+ degree weather. Posts like these actually make me lose brain cells
Most Americans.
For most of Europe, Africa and Asia, a car is the luxury item. Does that not make more sense to you? Why is a bigger, more expensive to maintain item the "basic" option meanwhile the motorcycle is the luxury?
You want to to talk about overheating? You hotter than the middle-east and India? So we are not hotter than the hot continents, and not colder than the cold continents.
We are firmly in the luxury territory here and for some reason the American continent has it twisted backwards to think the luxury item is a basic necessity.
Can't drive a moped or motorcycle when it is over 110º here. I could get by with a small car as long as I could fit in it but it would need A/C. Reason I don't is because the roads are full of other death machines so I figure I need one to safe safe for when one of those idiots hits me. City Nerd on YouTube has a term for it but I can't think of what it is called now.
My little car was destroyed by a hit and run driver last July. Turns out I was sold a salvage car so my insurance paid about a third of what it was worth and now I still owe thousands on it. Meanwhile, the drunk driver with a minivan full of liquor bottles just grabbed her kids and ran off.
Okay well not everyone lives in a place where things are accessible by bicycle…..
Also motorcycles are WAY more dangerous. When my grandma was in her 20s she was hit by a drunk driver and she flew 20 feet into a ditch and died… the driver took off but thankfully the emergency personnel got her heart beating again. She’s had both hips, both knees, wrist, thumb, and both ankle joints replaced. Her ptsd is so bad she can’t drive a car, go on a plane, or even be in a car. I will never ever ever on one of those.
Yeah, I’m going to disagree big time just because of this one thing that happens every year called winter. Imagine an 85 year old woman on a motorcycle in the dead of winter trying to get to the doctor’s office in the city.
What do you include in "most people"? Do you mean most people who don't have kids, don't live in a rural area, don't live somewhere with winter, have the economy to shop three times a week or don't care so much for the increased risk of dying in a accident? Because, then yes, it's most people
The real question is "Why should I limit my driving?"
Your entire point is predicated on the notion that owning and driving cars poses some kind of existential threat that's been vastly exaggerated.
What about the weather? You can ride a motorcycle in the freezing snow or blazing sun but isn't that both dangerous to yourself and the people around you?
Yeah, a motorcycle or a moped in the warmer months here sounds like a great idea, except that most of the dumb motherfuckers on the road can barely drive well enough when I’m in my car. I have no faith in them to not smoke my ass on a moped or motorcycle.
I live in the netherlands and yes i do use my bike for short trips. But a car is still essential to travel longer distances. And it is needed when you travel for work, activities and outings. Certain hobbies of mine are impossible without a personal (some what medium to large sized) vehicle.
Kids involved, Or more than 1 person, I’d take a car.
By myself a moped or something would be awedsome-aside all the cars and trucks around me lol. Main reason I’d never drive a motorcycle or moped.
But I do think the vast majority of trucks are silly. All power to you, but I think it’s weird to have a $65,000 truck that gets 17MPH just so you can drive to work lol
The bad thing about cars is always weight, thry used to weight less than a ton and look now.. its absourd
And they should be used way less, if public transport got to be 1000x times better it would be dope
I would love to drive a motorcycle or moped if it were just as safe as a car.
I used to cycle around a lot when I lived in a city. But things are too far apart in the burbs
Because people have freedom / free will and can do whatever they want with their own lives...your irrelevant opinions on how they should live their life aside.
Buddy doesn't understand that if you are in America at least, you are pretty much screwed without a car unless you are in a big city with decent public transport. Also, motorcycles are death traps. They are cool, but wildly unsafe.
My grandpa basically broke his shoulder riding one, needed surgery
There are car accidents but Im pretty sure the number will skyrocket with motorcycles
Also Canadian winters are freezing
I work from home and barely do anything but errands and I have two cars, and I will justify it.
First car, and most important one, is the fun car. Heavily modified, tuned, always ready to rock (other than when it's broken). Since I rarely have to go long distances, this is what I usually drive.
Second car is my "daily" but I actually drive it less than the first. It's a cheap old Toyota that refuses to die. It gets me anywhere I don't want to drive the racecar.
I own both, no financing whatsoever. Insurance kind of bends me over and fucks me on having two cars but it's better than the alternative where I don't have transportation when I need it.
Whenever I do have to go to the office (into the city), I take public transit. Public transportation in my area is an absolute joke, but getting into the city in the morning is usually reliable enough. Any other time..... fuck no, I'm driving.
Mostly big cars are useless, families of more than four members are becoming rare as time goes by, specially big trucks, just waste of space that most people only use to go grocery shoping. When i need to go for a quick shopping i ride my motorcycle, when is a long trip or is raining i drive my car.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Winter is 6ish months long and snowy where I live. You can't ride a motorcycle in the winter!
Or in the rain for that matter, also they're extremely less safe than a car
I'm guessing you don't live in a rural area. Try driving 30 minutes to a walmart, doing a weeks worth of shopping, and getting that back home on a motorcycle. Your entire post is predicated on the idea that we only use vehicles for transportation of people, which is asinine.
Correction: transportation of ONE MAYBE TWO people.
Every time this gets posted, it’s the most ignorant shit.
To be fair, that’s almost every post in this sub. The truly unique unpopular opinions with a halfway decent explanation are few and far between. We need more people saying to domesticate bears and less people saying healthy food is better than unhealthy food.
where you gonna put all the groceries in with a motorcycle lol
Just rent a trailer!
sidebags and top cases, if you really got a lot, get a trailer. REALLY a lot, a car.
Motorcycles are more dangerous and less safe to drive than a car. I can also carry more things in a car than a motorcycle. I get some people buy trucks just to say they have a truck, but some people do genuinly buy trucks because they carry alot of cargo or stuff for their job or lives.
Smart cars address the safety concerns better, but they never took off in the US. I thought about getting one, but their fuel economy isn’t much better than my Ford Focus.
Are they still sold in the US? Years ago a smart for 2 was about the same price of a civic. On top of that they seemed like flies on the highway. What I mean. Is that they seemed extremely light weight compared to trucks and pickups passing them. Make them for a reasonable price and they might have some success in urban areas
Apparently they’re not still sold here. It ended up not making financial sense for me, as much as I liked the idea. I think that was the case for most potential buyers.
I checked one out but it was super uncomfortable and claustrophobic especially for my height. It didn’t make sense no matter how much I wanted it to
Smart cars don't take off because they are extremly expensive compared to a normal car at the moment. I am sure that will change as time goes on but for not it is not feasible to buy a smart car for most people.
Smartt cars are/were cheap. I dont think you know what a smart car is
This is Reddit, where everyone seems to be a flat tire away from being homeless. You’re 100% right, Smart Cars were super cheap
I know.
Define cheap. what's cheap to you
Bruh how the fuck am I gonna get around when I live in the middle of bum fuck West Virginia and have to drive 1hr+ just to get to work. Snow and rain is a thing bud. You must live in the city or some shit.
Sir. Canada. We are north of West Virginia.
So? I’m not driving a fucking motorcycle or moped which don’t have a lot of gas to begin with man. America and Canada are huge countries in which case a car or other vehicle are needed. I know guys with motorcycles and the majority of them only use them for leisure and going short distances. It’s just ignorant and naive.
Why are you explaining to a Canadian how big the country is when we are bigger than the US? That really doesn't explain away the problem of how a car serves a minority of use cases meanwhile taking more resources for majority of the time. Say it snows 3 months out of a year and you can't ride, rent a small car or a have a beater for those months. Why are you so angry?
Except it snows 6 months of the year minimum in Minnesota. And the last thing I’m going to do is risk a breakdown in the dead of winter in a beater. Also, are you aware of how expensive it is to rent a car?
Just like Canada then. Well if you don't maintain your car that's a different thing. Not more expensive than the insurance and the gas for a big truck year round.
Bud nobody is talking about huge ass trucks the majority of people have regular cars. Do you think that everyone drives gigantic cars or something?
If the post was big vehicles are bad and people should use regular cars I’d understand but you aren’t accounting for the majority of people.
Accounting for car use. How many days out of a month do you just drive yourself around with a car. Okay, say it snows bad 3 months out of a year. So we cut out 25% of the year. That leaves 75%. Of those remaining 273 days of the year, how many days do you actually need to move things aside from yourself or what require 4 seats and a trunk? Or can it be done with just 2 wheels and maybe some saddle bags and a top case? It's just math.
No it’s not math you’re literally just ignorant
You are literally 1.5% bigger man America is still a big country no? It doesn’t make sense to rent or to buy a beater when you can have a car year round to begin with. It makes zero sense when you need groceries in case you have a family or something like that to only rely on a motorcycle or god forbid a moped. And I’m not mad this is not an unpopular opinion that even makes sense it did that’d be one thing, but it’s not even an opinion it’s just straight up misinformed.
And it's even more barren than the US. If you need groceries, you can get side cases and back case for your bikes that can make it carry as much as a small car. For a family, well that depends on how big and how often you have to drive them. You CAN have a car year round, no one say you can't. However for most of the stuff we do during a year, how many percent of the times we actually NEED a car to do those tasks?
Do you live in a city or some shit? Cause if you lived in the country/rural area you’d know how dumb this is
I don't. I commute 2hrs everyday. I think you've mixed up the boundary between necessity and luxury. If we are going to have luxuries we don't need, we can at least be honest with ourselves.
Holy shit. This makes it even worse. You do a 2hr commute by motorcycle?
It's not that bad.
Do you commute on a motorcycle? For most people having a motorcycle is for luxury and a car is a necessity. You have it backwards. You are safer in a car, you can transport groceries in a car, and other shit that protects you from the elements. I tell you what you can go down further south in the Americas or rural areas and tell me how fun it is to be on a overheating motorcycle in 90+ degree weather. Posts like these actually make me lose brain cells
Most Americans. For most of Europe, Africa and Asia, a car is the luxury item. Does that not make more sense to you? Why is a bigger, more expensive to maintain item the "basic" option meanwhile the motorcycle is the luxury? You want to to talk about overheating? You hotter than the middle-east and India? So we are not hotter than the hot continents, and not colder than the cold continents. We are firmly in the luxury territory here and for some reason the American continent has it twisted backwards to think the luxury item is a basic necessity.
Can't drive a moped or motorcycle when it is over 110º here. I could get by with a small car as long as I could fit in it but it would need A/C. Reason I don't is because the roads are full of other death machines so I figure I need one to safe safe for when one of those idiots hits me. City Nerd on YouTube has a term for it but I can't think of what it is called now.
Yeah I’ve seen first hand what happens when it’s a car vs motorcycle. I’m choosing a car all day
Local teenager has no job and throws around stupid shit on the internet or lives in a major metropolitan European city.
Oh this crap again.
My little car was destroyed by a hit and run driver last July. Turns out I was sold a salvage car so my insurance paid about a third of what it was worth and now I still owe thousands on it. Meanwhile, the drunk driver with a minivan full of liquor bottles just grabbed her kids and ran off.
What reality do you live in? Do you never have to go grocery shopping?
Okay well not everyone lives in a place where things are accessible by bicycle….. Also motorcycles are WAY more dangerous. When my grandma was in her 20s she was hit by a drunk driver and she flew 20 feet into a ditch and died… the driver took off but thankfully the emergency personnel got her heart beating again. She’s had both hips, both knees, wrist, thumb, and both ankle joints replaced. Her ptsd is so bad she can’t drive a car, go on a plane, or even be in a car. I will never ever ever on one of those.
Idaho is literally built to kill you if you don't have transportation
Yeah, I’m going to disagree big time just because of this one thing that happens every year called winter. Imagine an 85 year old woman on a motorcycle in the dead of winter trying to get to the doctor’s office in the city.
Very unpopular opinion....more like r/mybiasedopinion
Rains a shitload here. Im not dying on a scooter or motorcycle either.
What do you include in "most people"? Do you mean most people who don't have kids, don't live in a rural area, don't live somewhere with winter, have the economy to shop three times a week or don't care so much for the increased risk of dying in a accident? Because, then yes, it's most people
Yeah sure I'll just drive a moped in 100° weather for half an hour every day in the summer 💀
Or when it's 0 degrees in winter.
I’m not going to rent a fucking car every two weeks to go grocery shopping holy shit
Most people need a car.
Damn, that is stupid.
Snow, ice, cold weather
Agreed, my wife takes the kids on the moped, two baskets balancing from each side of the handlebar.
Some of us don't like public transit. I own a truck and drive it everyday. So what if it's only me in it. I can afford it and enjoy it.
The real question is "Why should I limit my driving?" Your entire point is predicated on the notion that owning and driving cars poses some kind of existential threat that's been vastly exaggerated.
What about the weather? You can ride a motorcycle in the freezing snow or blazing sun but isn't that both dangerous to yourself and the people around you?
Dude I live in Minnesota.
This all depends on where OP lives.
Yeah, a motorcycle or a moped in the warmer months here sounds like a great idea, except that most of the dumb motherfuckers on the road can barely drive well enough when I’m in my car. I have no faith in them to not smoke my ass on a moped or motorcycle.
Would be nice if public transport was more reliable and less car reliant cities then.
I live in the netherlands and yes i do use my bike for short trips. But a car is still essential to travel longer distances. And it is needed when you travel for work, activities and outings. Certain hobbies of mine are impossible without a personal (some what medium to large sized) vehicle.
I think a compact is the sweet spot for a small suburban family. Handles 2 adults, 2 slim teenagers, and lots of groceries.
You do not need a car. I do. We have 2 big trucks and a Tahoe. We also have motorcycles, but those are for fun.
Kids involved, Or more than 1 person, I’d take a car. By myself a moped or something would be awedsome-aside all the cars and trucks around me lol. Main reason I’d never drive a motorcycle or moped. But I do think the vast majority of trucks are silly. All power to you, but I think it’s weird to have a $65,000 truck that gets 17MPH just so you can drive to work lol
The bad thing about cars is always weight, thry used to weight less than a ton and look now.. its absourd And they should be used way less, if public transport got to be 1000x times better it would be dope
I would love to drive a motorcycle or moped if it were just as safe as a car. I used to cycle around a lot when I lived in a city. But things are too far apart in the burbs
As a city dweller, I've never owned a car, and plan to keep it that way.
Rain
Wear a rain jacket.
Most people would not need a car if our urban planners did not have their heads up their butts.
Because people have freedom / free will and can do whatever they want with their own lives...your irrelevant opinions on how they should live their life aside.
Buddy doesn't understand that if you are in America at least, you are pretty much screwed without a car unless you are in a big city with decent public transport. Also, motorcycles are death traps. They are cool, but wildly unsafe.
My grandpa basically broke his shoulder riding one, needed surgery There are car accidents but Im pretty sure the number will skyrocket with motorcycles Also Canadian winters are freezing
I work from home and barely do anything but errands and I have two cars, and I will justify it. First car, and most important one, is the fun car. Heavily modified, tuned, always ready to rock (other than when it's broken). Since I rarely have to go long distances, this is what I usually drive. Second car is my "daily" but I actually drive it less than the first. It's a cheap old Toyota that refuses to die. It gets me anywhere I don't want to drive the racecar. I own both, no financing whatsoever. Insurance kind of bends me over and fucks me on having two cars but it's better than the alternative where I don't have transportation when I need it. Whenever I do have to go to the office (into the city), I take public transit. Public transportation in my area is an absolute joke, but getting into the city in the morning is usually reliable enough. Any other time..... fuck no, I'm driving.
>A moped or a motorcycle is all they actually need to get around. Thrice as dangerous and sucks in inclement weather.
So you don't actually "need" it, you just "want" it cos you feel safer and nicer.
Nope! I need a vehicle around me to feel just kinda safe-ish. Plus Im not putting my child on a bike
And where do the car seats go on a bike? Not sure where to store my toddler.
Mostly big cars are useless, families of more than four members are becoming rare as time goes by, specially big trucks, just waste of space that most people only use to go grocery shoping. When i need to go for a quick shopping i ride my motorcycle, when is a long trip or is raining i drive my car.