study: americans love driving and their cars less today

[OS]

"Any nation with more passenger vehicles than licensed drivers has a pretty serious love affair with the automobile. But the romance seems to be cooling off a bit -- a casualty of its own intensity.

Today 69% of American drivers say they like to drive, down from 79% in a 1991 Gallup survey. And just 23% say they consider their car "something special -- more than just a way to get around," barely half of the 43% who felt this way in 1991.

The biggest reason for the cooling of the affair isn't the recent spike in gas prices. Rather, it appears to be the result of a longer term trend -- the growing hassle of traffic congestion, according to a Pew Research Center telephone survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,182 adults (including 1,048 drivers) conducted from June 20 through July 16, 2006."



article

 

[Journer]

i'm the 23% that thinks its more than just a way to get around...cars= tons of fun...i love driving too 😛....if only i could get a minority scholarship for that :'(

 

[LordMorpheus]

I love driving and I love my car. I'm special!

 

[JS80]

yup traffic is primary reason, not gas price

 

[bobdelt]

Well I hate cars, hate driving, and use public transportation... Coldn't be happier since I ditched my car.

 

[SlitheryDee]

My car isn't anything special, but making it reliably from point A to point B is good enough for me.

 

[Kadarin]

I'm lucky that I work a shift where I bypass most of the rush hour traffic.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Ever since I got this Infiniti G35 I've had a love affair with driving. I'm getting rid of it though because I want a 4 cylinder that doesn't cost me a fortune to drive around. I've always been the volunteer when it comes to driving places though so I guess you could say that either I love to drive or I'm a control freak.

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33
I'm lucky that I work a shift where I bypass most of the rush hour traffic.

Same. I walk to work and only drive when I want to :thumbsup:

 

[Baked]

study: americans love driving and their cars less today

Does that make any sense to you at all?

 

[PingSpike]

WTF, driving sucks. No wonder the road is so clogged with morans.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I love driving but I really don't own a car right now that I get great pleasure out of driving. Probably a good thing too as it motivates me to bike to work whenever I can. :thumbsup:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
WTF, driving sucks. No wonder the road is so clogged with morans.

What's a moran? 😕

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: JS80
yup traffic is primary reason, not gas price

yeah...the joy of having 380 horses under the hood in your little '07 LeSex seems rather muted when you are stuck in gridlock behing a 1986 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo diesel......

 

[Amplifier]

now do that survey amongst corvette owners 🙂

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: JS80
yup traffic is primary reason, not gas price

yeah...the joy of having 380 horses under the hood in your little '07 LeSex seems rather muted when you are stuck in gridlock behing a 1986 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo diesel......

beware of the turbodiesel... see youtube for the F350 crew cab run... 11.42s 1/4 mile

 

[bennylong]

I save $700 a month by not having a car. Walk to work kicks ass.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: JS80
yup traffic is primary reason, not gas price

yeah...the joy of having 380 horses under the hood in your little '07 LeSex seems rather muted when you are stuck in gridlock behing a 1986 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo diesel......

beware of the turbodiesel... see youtube for the F350 crew cab run... 11.42s 1/4 mile

my post was in reference to the little "fallout" that said Diesel truck left in its wake😛

 

[edro]

The only driving I like is on a winding country road, no traffic.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: edro
The only driving I like is on a winding country road, no traffic.

Hell, even driving our e250 through the back roads of VA this evening was enjoyable:beer:

 

[Parrotheader]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
My car isn't anything special, but making it reliably from point A to point B is good enough for me.

Same here.

When I was a teen and in my early 20s, I loved it a lot more. I used to love going out joyriding for hours. But now that I'm a little older (but not old 😉) and I actually have the funds to purchase a nice car, I could care less about doing so. Just give me a comfortable, useful, reliable vehicle (and one that gets good city mileage - all these car ads now tout highway mileage but most of the US population's driving occurs in more urban environments.)

My ultimate wishlist item for cars would actually take driving out of the equation completely. I want a fully-automatic autopilot. I'd love nothing more than to hop into the backseat of my car and tell my car to take me to work. Then I could just take a nap, watch TV, play games, whatever.

 

[maziwanka]

i dont like the way you've written your thread title

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: JS80
yup traffic is primary reason, not gas price

yeah...the joy of having 380 horses under the hood in your little '07 LeSex seems rather muted when you are stuck in gridlock behing a 1986 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo diesel......

I dunno, the Mustang is no less fun in traffic than it is on the open road. Same for the 951. The 914 is less fun in traffic, but that's just because it doesn't have A/C.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
My ultimate wishlist item for cars would actually take driving out of the equation completely. I want a fully-automatic autopilot. I'd love nothing more than to hop into the backseat of my car and tell my car to take me to work. Then I could just take a nap, watch TV, play games, whatever.

They have those. They're called busses.

ZV

 

[magomago]

count me in. 21 and i haven't had a car yet...but i'm already sick of having to wait in a car just go get places. back where i live to get across the city it takes around 30 minutes when without the crappy congestion it should take 10 minutes. I'm getting one soon too, and with gas prices and congestion i'm not particularity excited about it.
A car is simply a tool to get around. I'll be one of those guys making cha ching with a camry 😉 I'd rather spend 20k on a car, then 70k for the mercedes or bmw brand and spend the other 50k on more useful things...