I was desperately nervous about becoming car-free. But eight months ago our elderly people

carrier was hit by a passing vehicle and the damage was so bad it had to be written off. No problem, I thought: well buy another. But the insurance payout didnt even begin to cover the costs of buying a new car—I worked out that, with the loan wed need plus petrol, insurance, parking permits and tax, we could easily be looking at around ￡600 a month. And thats when I had my fancy idea. Why not just give up having a car at all？ The more I thought about it, the more sensible it seemed. I live in London. We have a railway station behind our house, a tube station 10 minutes walk away, and a bus stop at the end of the street. A new car club had just opened in our area, and one of its shiny little red Peugeots was parked nearby If any family in Britain could live without a car, I reasoned, then surely we were that family？ But my new car-free passion, sadly, wasnt shared by my family. My teenage daughters were horrified. What would their friends think about our family being "too poor to afford a car"？(I wasnt that bothered what they thought, and I suggested the girls could take the same approach.) My friends, too, were astonished at our plan. What would happen if someone got seriously ill overnight and needed to go to hospital？(an ambulance？)How would the children get to and from their many events？(buses and trains？)People smiled indulgently, as though this was another of my mad ideas, before saying they were sure Id soon realize that a car wasnt a luxury, it was a necessity. Eight months on, I wonder whether well ever own a car again. The idea that you "have" to own a car, especially if you live in a city, is all in the mind. I live— and many other city-dwellers do too—in a community that has never been better served by public transport, and yet car ownership has never been higher. We worry about rising car costs, but wed be better off asking something much more basic. Do I really need a car？ The answer turned out to be no, and Im a lot richer because I dared to ask the question.

The author decided to live a car-free life______.

A．after his car was damaged beyond repair

B．after he was hurt in a terrible car accident

C．because public transport was easily accessible

D．because the traffic jam was too much for him