Please learn to drive.There are programmes to help young people without access to a car (here in Melbourne, at any rate - although I have a few concerns about the quality of mentors used), so you may not actually need to have a car.
I have known a few women in abusive situations - and can now add dangerous situations like the one mentioned above - where not being able to drive was a major problem.
Being able to drive:
- potentially gives one a sense of accomplishment, confidence and self reliance (that latter one I could also describe as maturity);
- means you have removed one of the obstacles to escaping from situations of abuse or danger. There are many other aspects as well, so, just because you can drive, doesn't mean you WILL escape, but it means you have removed one of the major blocks - and I know of several cases where not being able to drive was what led to staying in bad situations;
- you may have greater employment opportunities;
- you have greater choice about where to live - for instance, I know many people who live in the inner or middle suburbs and use public transport (PT) for ethical reasons (I won't use public transport for personal safety reasons - and the PSOs here appear to be a significant part of the safety problem, but there have always been assaults on people who are "different" - race, religion, or LGBTIQ), but that also means they are stuck with horrendously expensive rents, and may be prevented from ever buying a house. If they have a driver's licence, they can think about whether to move to less expensive suburbs - where having a car is esential, to be able to be reasonably socially connected;
- you can go places that do not have PT - and there are some very nice places just outside the city that I would never go to if I had to use PT.
