Posted by Vince Wadhwani on Dec 27, 2006

I've maintained that cars are one of the most dangerous inventions ever given to the mass public. Not only do they cause pollution and take up natural resources, but they have several other negative effects as well:

  • Urban Sprawl: Probably the biggest contributing factor to urban sprawl is the automobile. That quaint invention that started off as a way to scurry faster within the city has turned into a necessity we now employ to speed us from the city centers to our far away suburban retreat. You can see an earlier article I wrote about this if you like.
  • Death: Each year thousands of people are killed by cars. If you kept score in California, the final result in 2005 was: Pedestrians Killed by Cars 4304 -- Cars Killed by Pedestrians 0. Google pedestrian deaths 2005 and you'll see a disturbing trend: it keeps going up and up. No matter which state or county you look at, more people are dying because drivers are too absorbed with their cellphones, radios and sandwiches to obey traffic signals or can't sacrifice the beer and the keys. Shameful.
  • Road Rage: When people are inside their cars they feel invincible. They're 200 pounds of flesh encased in a 6000 pound steel and aluminum exoskeleton. With the power to go 150MPH at the twitch of a foot, drown out all ambient noise, all while enjoying a ride so smooth that your body feels virtually no strain. Power. So is it any surprise that our inner feelings come out when in such god-like state? As traffic has increased and more and more people take to the road in their own 6000 pound exoskeletons, it takes less and less for us to get really upset. Witness articles on road rage here and here and then google for more...
  • Pollution/Fossil Fuel usage: Cars run on gas. Gas is made from oil. Oil is drilled for in deserts and oceans. Electric vehicles are improving the situation but there are already lobbyists at work to change the point at which the damage to the environment occurs.. from driving and drilling to the manufacture of hydrogen fuel cells. Buyer beware.

Some urban communities have invested a lot in public transportation. I maintain that New York and London have great infrastructures. DC is pretty good too. Other places (e.g. San Francisco, Mumbai) are dismal. All of the cities mentioned here should be investing more in their programs anyway. London and NYC are busting at the seams with people using the system. Give us more frequent trains, buses with GPS linked to the stops so we know when to expect them, and reasonable fares. Supply demand people.

I was really pleased to see that Beijing decided to invest $9 Billion to improve things for their citizens. The average speed during peak hours on their roads dropped by half over the last 10 years. It's a shame that it's taken the Olympics to push this investment but as a guy who prefers to walk than drive, I'll take it any way I can get it.

PS: <sarcasm>Isn't it fantastic that ads for Nokia phones show up in an article that touches on road rage and cellphone use?</sarcasm>