h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah but you have to keep stopping and inching the car forward a few inches, and you can't read when things are going well. And the costs of running a car would include insurance for a twenty two year old male with no no calims bonus or driving experience living in a dogey area of Birmingham - one or two grand a year.

Insurance under 25 *is* a bummer I do accept that. However there are those who say, if one is a reasonable driver, don't drink, don't take drugs and don't take unecessary risks, why bother. Yes you get screwed if you f*ck up, but the moral is - don't f*ck up.

I do live opposite a station, and can be at Birmingham New Street within 20 minutes, so I really am lucky public transport wise. If and whne I do own a car it will be purely for trips to teh county which aren't accessable on public transport.

Yes you are lucky. And so was I for many years when I lived and worked in Sheffield -- very cheap and very frequent bus service -- but there comes a time when you find that you need to have a car. Usually it happens when you discover that the supermarket to home is about 100 yards too far to be marching around with a 24 bottle box of beer under your arm

Probably yes. I should have mentioned that I live above a shop and their is an off license on our small row of shops... the staff reconigse me out of work now

I am sticking at driving lessons which I hate with a vengagce for that very reason, I might not have time later.

It's worth sticking at it. It might take a while - and god I should know - but having the skill does open up way more possibilities career and life wise than not having it.

I know, I want to be a GP, and whilst a few, mainly in central london do home visits on bikes, it's hardly widespread! But what was my car fund may have to be spent repairing a the damage from a flood in my flat - not my fault and a long story I don't want to repete on h2g2.

It's interesting that you mention that. The richest borough in the whole country is the borough of Kensington & Chelsea - average income: shed loads. At the same time as this it is also one of the places in the country that has the lowest levels of car ownership. Because quite simply they don't need them. They have tubes, they have buses, but mostly they have taxis and not very far to travel to get wherever it is they want to go.

The highest level of car ownership in England? Lincolnshire. Big, sparsely populated, everywhere is a long way from everywhere else and sod all in the way of public transport.

One of the poorest areas in the country. Umm... that would be Lincolnshire again.

It's all a question of practicalities and priorities

As far as insuring a car in Birmingham goes, I find the best policy is to lie.

My Dad, in one of the few moves I am grateful to him for, set me up with a local insurance broker when I was 17. At that point, my cheapest insurance was arranged straight from their database, and any queries about the validity of my car arrangements (say, perahps, when I got caught on a speeding camera in Brum) went straight to the broker, who simply said 'Yes - this customer is valued, and therefore we have no reason to doubt his word'.

They knoew people lied to them all the time; they took £20 a year off me to make the lie 'official'. Bargain!