To my mind it is very strange that we have this massive debate about “saving the planet”, but nobody is pointing the finger at the role of sprawl and its prime facilitator, the private motor vehicle.
At the conclusion of “An Inconvenient Truth”, Al Gore listed “10 things you can do” (to help save the planet) one of which was…
“use your car less often” (less often than 1 hour a day???)
How many of us stop to consider that the average car is only used (actually driven) for less than an hour every day..? In the UK alone more than 33 million of these over-sized, over-powered, and over-engineered machines spend 96% of their lives idly sitting in garages or car parks or squatting in endless rows at the side of every road, cluttering up and despoiling our cities, towns, villages, and countryside. Yet this “former next president” (as he used to quip) suggests we should use them EVEN LESS ???
The VERY EXISTENCE of cars (and motor vehicles in general) in such insanely large numbers is the REAL ISSUE. Yet, even those in the forefront of the environmental movement like George “Guardianista” Monbiot (“Heat”) seem unable to accept that Cars – because they facilitate SPRAWL – are the root cause of most of our enviro-woes..!
IMO, we will never be able to substantially reduce our carbon emissions – or solve our biggest enviro issues – or be able to build truly sustainable cities – unless we dispense with our economic and societal dependence on individually-owned cars.
All the delirious hype about electric cars is a distraction from a far more important issue – building cities where people can comfortably and safely walk to work, shops, schools, etc, and would have no need for cars at all.
CARS WERE INTENDED FOR PLEASURE TRIPS
The freedom to travel whenever and wherever one wishes that is bestowed by cars is a wonderfully liberating thing. But liberation quickly turns sour when roads are congested or gridlocked. Rather than using cars for pleasurable jaunts into the countryside – their original intention, in case you were unaware – people now use cars every day for millions of (what really should be) un-necessary journeys. Pleasure outings are now the rare exception rather than the rule.
The negatives of car ownership are so innumerable I won’t even attempt to list them all, but here are a few. Financial anxiety due to the ever-increasing cost of car ownership, maintenance, insurance, parking costs, congestion charges, fines etc. And the hidden cost of depreciation. Parking scrapes and dents (always by an unknown perpetrator), minor prangs, major accidents, vandalism, break-ins, car theft, and maybe mass car burnings (ask Parisians) and even violent hijackings coming soon? The mental stress caused by traffic congestion – frustration, annoyance, and the seething hatred of other road users – especially “bad drivers”. (>90% of us think we are “better than average” drivers, and I’m one of them btw..!) Pent-up frustration and anger can escalate to boiling point and “road-rage”, which can get deadly violent.
“Time is our most precious personal resource. Given time, anyone can achieve anything. Cars are meant to make life faster and allow us to do more, to get more out of life. It is deeply ironic then, that cars actually suck up vast amounts of people’s time, apparently without us noticing.
It takes time to research, purchase, insure, tax, maintain, clean, re-fuel, plan routes, drive around in circles looking for parking spaces, buy parking time, etc. We also have to deal with self-appointed “car guards”, police, traffic fines, punctures, breakdowns, minor but costly bumps or scrapes, accidents minor or major, courts, lawyers, and so on. Nobody bothers to keep tabs on all this time and compare it to journey time saved, we don’t tend to think that way. (carbusters.org)
We try to ignore a car’s drain on our finances. Many people spend more than 1 day every week working for a car which (on average) they only actually use for less than one hour per day.
Endless “road improvement” schemes – and a 4000 km network of 100m wide MOTORWAYS WILDLIFE ANNIHILATION ZONES – has fragmented the English landscape into hundreds of small enclaves, a death-trap for wildlife attempting to cross from one zone to another
The Hedgehog HolocaustThese cute little fellows used to be a common sight – albeit sadly in squashed form – on English roads. If you ever wondered why they are so rarely seen these days it is because, since 1950, motor vehicles have decimated their population by 97%..! If humans had been subjected to genocide on that scale, the population of Britain would be 2 million instead of 65 million..!
Cars are a great invention, but in huge numbers they are a great pestilence and, deep down, I think we all know it…
Its utter madness that, for 96% of their lives, these expensive machines spend most of their lives sitting idly by the roadside or rusting away in former ” front gardens”
up to 30% of the area of our cities are the exclusive domain of motor vehicles
England’s storied “Green and Pleasant Land” is being buried under filthy black tarmac.
the constant danger posed by cars prevents kids playing outside in the street as they once did
Cars are deeply divisive, being the MOST CONSPICUOUS SYMBOL OF WEALTH
Cars cause us to be ANGRY with “bad” or inconsiderate drivers, often leading to ROAD RAGE..!
NOISE – revving-up, slamming doors, loud exhausts, screeching tyres, blaring horns, collisions…!
POISONING the air with noxious exhaust fumes and over-heated brake linings, etc
Poisoning of the soil and water caused by tyre dust,oil spills, battery acid, and other detritus
Black-top road surfaces increase the air temperature, thus intensifying MMCC
Every year 1.25 million people killed on the roads – the majority being young
Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of DEATH among people aged between 15 and 29 years.
Up to 50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many DISABLED for life
Nearly half of road deaths are “vulnerable road users”: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
Sicknesses and shortened lifespans caused by air pollution.
Or the health impact of the OBESITY crisis.
The total cost to the health service is incalculable
MILLIONS of domestic pets and wildlife are slaughtered on the roads
Most people will be relieved when released from the burden and expense of car ownership. OA-Cities will be the catalyst to provide that welcome relief.
