What's an ideal conveyance for a person who has never owned his own car (or other motor vehicle)?

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Hi. I never officially learned how to drive because for a LONG TIME I had a repressed phobia of driving. I earned a learner's permit from the DMV but it expired because I never used it, since I couldn't get someone to supervise me driving, and I never got a license.

A family friend tried to teach me how to drive once but he was not a good instructor.

I don't know how getting driving lessons is going to work now, since I am over 16 or 17. Someone told me if I am not mistaken you don't have to go to driving school to get driving lessons if you're an adult, and that you can just learn driving basics on your own and go to the DMV to pass the road test and get your license. I don't recall what he said verbatim. I might be mixing something up.

I tried looking into getting a car off of Craigslist, since I was told you can buy a new vehicle off of that site for under $1000, but a number of folks told me buying a car for less than $1000, especially for a few hundred dollars off that site, is not worth it; it might not run.

I was thinking about getting a Vespa scooter or Segway scooter. I can get one cheap and I assume it wouldn't require me learning how to drive and control it. Where does one station a Vespa or Segway scooter when not in use? Do you have to get a chain for it? Do Vespa or Segway scooter owners get treated the same as motor vehicle owners?

What conveyance should I get since I don't own a car or other type of motor vehicle?

Please help. Thank you.

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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 3,536 • Replies: 34

@JGoldman10,

The rules vary State by State. You can do it, driving just takes a little practice. It helps if you have a patient driving friend.

I would not buy a car for less than $1000. The cost to keep it running will be higher than the cost to buy a new car. I think $6000-$8000 would be the sweet spot of saving money in the long run (getting a car that you aren't going to have to feed money to keep it running).

A scooter would be cool. I don't know about parking or chains.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

The rules vary State by State. You can do it, driving just takes a little practice. It helps if you have a patient driving friend.

....

A scooter would be cool. I don't know about parking or chains.

Are you talking about getting someone to teach me how to drive a scooter?

What other personal means are there (and by personal means I mean personal modes of transportation; i.e., conveyances) to get around with besides scooters and motor vehicles? Only other thing I can think of is motorcycles, but with motorcycles, as far as I know, you have to go to school to learn how to drive and operate them and you have to get insurance for them.

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

JGoldman10 wrote:

Someone told me if I am not mistaken you don't have to go to driving school to get driving lessons if you're an adult, and that you can just learn driving basics on your own and go to the DMV to pass the road test and get your license. I don't recall what he said verbatim. I might be mixing something up.

I won't confess to knowing any DMV policies from other states other than MA or NY but I'm going out on a limb and saying that bullcrap wrong. The difference from getting a license being an adult and a teen may be the lesser amounts of restrictions placed on the permit holder if that permit holder is an adult (and they're likely still will be driving restrictions until you earned your full driver's license).

Quote:

I tried looking into getting a car off of Craigslist, since I was told you can buy a new vehicle off of that site for under $1000, but a number of folks told me buying a car for less than $1000, especially for a few hundred dollars off that site, is not worth it; it might not run.

The old adage of you get what you pay for rings that much truer with used cars. You might be lucky but you shouldn't risk your life and livelihood on the bet to find a cheap car at that level.

Quote:

I was thinking about getting a Vespa scooter or Segway scooter.

You still will need a motorcycle license for the Vespa scooter (in many states). The Segway isn't a scooter (and that isn't a question of semantics) where the legal use of them depends on the state you live in (they might not even be street legal). And they no longer make them. And they never were mass-produced (and always overpriced) and I don't suspect you can get one cheap.

Quote:

What other personal means are there (and by personal means I mean personal modes of transportation; i.e., conveyances) to get around with besides scooters and motor vehicles?

Since no one knows what city or state where you live. How can anyone answer this question when you should know better what is locally available to you (given we don't have that regional context that needs to be provided to answer that in the first place).

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

Quote:

I tried looking into getting a car off of Craigslist, since I was told you can buy a new vehicle off of that site for under $1000, but a number of folks told me buying a car for less than $1000, especially for a few hundred dollars off that site, is not worth it; it might not run.

tsarstepan wrote:

The old adage of you get what you pay for rings that much truer with used cars. You might be lucky but you shouldn't risk your life and livelihood on the bet to find a cheap car at that level.

Quote:

I was thinking about getting a Vespa scooter or Segway scooter.

tsarstepan wrote:

You still will need a motorcycle license for the Vespa scooter (in many states).

CRAP.

tsarstepan wrote:

The Segway isn't a scooter (and that isn't a question of semantics) where the legal use of them depends on the state you live in (they might not even be street legal). And they no longer make them. And they never were mass-produced (and always overpriced) and I don't suspect you can get one cheap.

I can probably buy a Segway off of Ebay. Do you have to go to school to learn how to use a Segway like you do with a motorcycle?

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@JGoldman10,

You could always get a bicycle (which is cool, inexpensive, and actually good for you).

The advantage of a scooter is that it you don't have to pedal it. I actually don't know the rules for when you need a license. They aren't hard to learn.

A Segway is overpriced and I would consider it impractical given the other options.

A motorcycle would enable you to travel further and faster than a scooter. It would be more expensive than a scooter or bicycle but less expensive than a car. I think a scooter would be fine for scooting around a city, but I wouldn't travel outside of a city on one.

I am planning on going to motorcycle school, maybe this year.

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@JGoldman10,

In NY state as well as MA. Yes. You will need proper certified class training before trying to earn your motorcycle license.

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

What State do you live in?

(Getting a drivers license is not nearly as hard as you think).

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@maxdancona,

I tried learning how to ride a bike as a youngster but I never got passed the training wheels part.

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@maxdancona,

NY. Obtaining a driver's license is not really the issue. I never owned my own motor vehicle.

My mother's car is sitting in my backyard but I don't how to drive it, and my mother has the keys for it. She's stuck in rehab.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

In NY state as well as MA. Yes. You will need proper certified class training before trying to earn your motorcycle license.

Do you have to get certified class training and a license to own and operate a Segway?

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

Quote:

Segways are considered vehicles under the New York State Motor Vehicle Law. ... In a nutshell, then, a Segway may not legally be operated on sidewalks, or streets, or bridges, or public walkways, or in parks, anywhere in the State of New York -- including New York City.

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

I just checked. In NY you need a drivers license to drive any motorized scooter, and a special motorcycle license to drive something with a top speed over some limit.

Yes, I would get someone to teach me. My brother knows how to ride a motorcycle... I might bug him this summer. I will probably take a safety course anyway

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@tsarstepan,

Okay. Got it. Just wanted to make sure that was clear.

0 Replies

@maxdancona,

I don't know who I can get to teach me how to drive, and/or supervise me driving, let alone teach me how to drive a Segway or Vespa scooter, and/or supervise me operating one.

I asked my mother if she could supervise me driving when I got my permit, but she said "no". She said she would not make a good driving coach. She hasn't remembered how to do that in years.

I asked one of my next-door neighbors if she could teach me how to drive, and/or supervise me driving, and she said "no". I asked if her sons could do that. She said they wouldn't wouldn't want to be bothered with the responsibility, even with me offering to pay them.

0 Replies

On a related note:

https://www.nytrafficlawyer.com/blog/2020/august/ny-rules-for-electric-transportation/

I don't have to go to a special school to learn how to ride a Segway. KIDS ride these things.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

You could always get a bicycle (which is cool, inexpensive, and actually good for you).

^
This.

1 Reply

@oralloy,

As I said, I tried to learn how to ride a bike as a youngster but I never got past the training wheels part. Isn't it easier to learn how to ride a bike in your youth?

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

JGoldman10 wrote:

Isn't it easier to learn how to ride a bike in your youth?

WHAT?!
1. You're taller than a child and won't have a problem standing up while straddling a stationary bike without falling down. AKA once you stop moving forward, you can prevent yourself from falling over just by placing your feet on the ground (that's if you choose the right size bike to ride- one that isn't too tall for your body size).
2. Physically, you are an adult* (and unless you have a degenerative muscle disorder) and have an exponentially better (physical) understanding your keeping balance.

*Though I'm constantly surprised at how not an adult you intellectually appear to be here.

0 Replies

More links:

https://dmv.ny.gov/registration/electric-scooters-and-bicycles-and-other-unregistered-vehicles
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/are-segways-allowed-to-ride-on-the-sidewalks-36293#:~:text=Segways%20are%20not%20considered%20motor,considered%20a%20%E2%80%9Cconsumer%20product.%E2%80%9D
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/what-is-the-legal-status-of-a-segway-motor-vehicle-electric-bike-pedestrian-36294
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/2/21204232/new-york-legalizes-electric-bikes-scooters

I'm going to contact the DMV where I live and ask if it's okay to ride Segways in my hometown, and if I need a license and registration to use one.

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What's an ideal conveyance for a person who has never owned his own car (or other motor vehicle)?

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