I've got a really big wooden crate -- it's a little over 4 metres long and just under 2 metres wide -- and it won't fit in my house. I'm the only person who gets any benefit from my having this crate -- indeed, my ownership of the crate is actually bad for you. I didn't really care about the fact I had nowhere to keep the crate when I bought it; I wanted it and so I got it anyway. So now, because it won't fit in my house, I'm just going to leave it in the street. It'll block half of the road, but so what? I need somewhere to keep my crate and that's where it's going.
If you heard me say this, you would quite rightly brand me a selfish bastard who deserves to be beaten soundly with rolled-up copies of the Daily Mail until I learnt a little civic responsibility. But hold fast! What if, instead of a crate, it was a saloon car I was talking about? A car has exactly the same dimensions as my crate, but you'd think absolutely nothing of my saying "I don't have anywhere to store my car and I knew this when I bought it, but I'm just going to leave it in the street where it'll block half the road".
Parking cars is a topic which, more than most, gets people angry (certainly more than the World Bank's policies or the invasion of Iraq, as far as I can see). I've been dwelling on the subject since, about a year ago, I had an email from somebody wanting my expert endorsement for a policy of greater freedom for motorists to park where they like. This got me thinking, and I soon realized that car parking is a nice illustration of the bizarre level of freedom given to motorists. (I turned down the request, incidentally.)
Because here's the question: why should I be allowed to own a car if I have nowhere to store it? I am not permitted the same freedom to store anything else on the road. If I own a caravan, or a speedboat on a trailer, I am obliged to have off-road storage facilities for it. If I want to place a skip outside my house when doing building work I have to take great care that this hazard is brightly lit and removed as soon as possible. These are all relevant comparisons, as skips, caravans and speedboats on trailers are all are more-or-less the same size and construction as a car.
You might at this point be thinking that you pay about £100 a year to tax your vehicle, and that this sum makes cars different from all these other items. This argument is fallacious in so many respects that I think I'll devote a whole post to it soon. For now, let me put it this way: I pay masses of tax every time I buy a bottle of whisky, but I can't thereby expect the State to provide me with a shelf to store it on or a glass to drink it from.
So I'm left unable to see a rational reason why I should be allowed to own a car when I have nowhere to store it, leaving me with no option but to dump it in various bits of the civic landscape. I'd be genuinely grateful for any suggestions.
Edit: To offer one more important comparison, I used to live on a narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon canal. As anybody who has ever tried to buy one with know, it is impossible to own a boat on the inland waterways without either proving you have somewhere to keep it, or issuing a solemn promise that you'll keep on moving indefinitely without leaving it at the canalside. Our canals are a public transport resource just like our roads, but apparently the rules are very different...
10 comments:
I want one so people stop parking large vans outside my house...not to mention the smoking burger eating noisy spitting teenagers (oh dear, age is a terrible thing) I thought I might try and make a large pretend car...but your crate is fabulous!
Here in Edinburgh, there have been huge arguments about the council wanting to put communal rubbish bins on the streets of the New Town. The residents complain that these bins detract from the architecture of the World Heritage Site, but oddly none of the residents has asked to have the parked cars (which is a greater detraction) removed. Odd that...
Here in Edinburgh there has been a wee bit of a stushie about communal bins in the New Town. Certain residents have objected to these bins on the grounds that they "distract" from the architecture of the World Heritage Site. Oddly there have no such complains about the parked cars on the same streets, even though these are a greater distraction, one wonders why...
Great Post. I have often thought the same thing, but with a shed. I've always wanted a shed but I don't have the room because I live in a flat. People are allowed to store their property on the street, why not a shed? Turns out it is only motorists who are allowed to store their property on public land for free.
really!!! lots of people need a car for work, transport blah blah blah. we live in the 21st century and cars are a part of our society now. deal with it and stop whining.
Bikerider - if that's really your opinion, and you're not just spoofing a Mail reader, I hope you can see that it's not a very strong argument. Think how what you say can just be turned round to anything, whether positive or negative:
"I've just been mugged!"
"We live in the 21st century and mugging is a part of our society now. Deal with it and stop whining"
etc. etc.
so what do you suggest, banish cars from the earth. take vehicles away from people who genuinely need them and cannot afford off street parking. if the cars are not blocking the street they would be full of spitting teenagers on bmx bikes and skateboards. some people just like to moan, it's in their nature.
"if the cars are not blocking the street they would be full of spitting teenagers on bmx bikes and skateboards. some people just like to moan, it's in their nature"
*Cough*
I'd like to have skateboards and bmx bikes on the road because there a lot better in so many ways.
We have to have cars in the street, otherwise children might play there.
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