In a place where independence is what we live by, travel is no exception. Every day millions of miles are traveled by people going to work, going home, or traveling for leisure and activities. As a driver, I understand the importance of being independent in your travel. But there are some negatives to this as well. The mass use of automobiles is creating a more crowded and dangerous environment.
Think of LA as an example, it’s on the news nearly every day how there’s another major traffic jam. All you see is pictures of stopped cars on the 405. There are two reasons for this. Public transportation is awful in the states, and driving your own car is a luxury everyone wants to abuse. Think about it, when you’re in your car listening to music it feels pretty nice, there’s a sense of freedom that comes along with it. But it also just looks better, “if people can drive (from the suburbs) to their destination … the reality is (driving is) always going to be a more attractive way to get around” (Taylor). People who live in the suburbs and work in the city definitely know what this means. And for those who use public transport to get to their jobs, maybe is biking to the train station, or taking a bus to the train station. They just know what’s most economically friendly and all-around a better service to society. After all, there are way too many cars on the road anyways. “The latest 2017 data report 273 million vehicles, 225 million licensed drivers, and 3.213 billion miles driven annually” (Injury Facts). That’s billion with a B, I can’t even try to put that into perspective.
Another negative effect of the overpopulation of cars on the road is safety. It’s a simple equation, the more cars, the more people getting hit by cars. To me, there’s no other way to reduce the number of deaths. And this has only gotten worse throughout history, “Between 1913 and 2017, the number of motor-vehicle deaths in the United States, which include all types of motor vehicles including passenger cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles increased 858%, from 4,200 deaths in 1913 to 40,231 in 2017. However, the role cars play in daily life is vastly different now than when tracking began” (Injury Facts). Since more and more people are driving, and the population in our country is only rising, it’s almost unavoidable to reduce this number of deaths by automobiles.
From this information, I’ve been able to gather my thoughts on the situation. I’m not trying to tell people to stop driving because that’s ridiculous. I drive all the time, to school, to practice, to friends’ houses. It’s just a part of my life now. It’s simply unavoidable. But we could also make an effort to change that, by increasing the use of public transport there will be less traffic, fewer cars on the road meaning fewer accidents. The equation’s simple.
Very interesting! I believe that if we switched to electric cars a loit of time, money and space would be saved. If we depended on self-driving cars we wouldn’t have to own one, it would be public transportation and allow zero emmisions. If you thik about it you drive youself to school to have your car sit there all day when it could be helping someone else out.
I agree especially since cars have became such a big thing and almost everyone uses it and although there are some cars that do lest damage to the enviorment those cars are more expensive so for most people that’s not an option. Theres so much pollution that comes from the car that people can’t see and cause theres so many cars its really bad for the enviorment. It’s intresting how at first when cars where invented it was a luxary thing (still kinda is) and how not that many people had it but it’s changed so much
I think you make a good point. Roads and cars take up a tremendous amount of space in our lives, and we need to be able to take a step back and start thinking responsibly about our car usage. I agree with your point on public transportation as well – due to the United State’s awful public transport infrastructure, the alternatives aren’t ideal. This needs to be worked on if we’re to address the issue of car overpopulation.
I do agree that cars have an enormous negative impact on the planet. There are simply too many cars producing carbon monoxide. Also, car accidents are up there for top events that kill people. I feel this is why it is important we continue investing and spending time researching electric cars. Especially, Tesla. Tesla automobiles have one of the highest safety ratings out of all automobiles. Tesla also has autopilot that makes the roads much safer as well. While the autopilot feature still needs developing, it will develop if we invest in Tesla and their research. Also, Tesla cars don’t produce carbon emission, saving the environment and lives as well. Tesla and electric cars are the future and the solution to the problems mentioned in the article.
This makes a lot of sense. People have fallen into a cycle where if they want to do something that involves being in another location, they have to ask: “how long will it take to get there?” “will traffic be bad?” “what is the fastest way there?” etc. In the end, they end up worrying more about transportation than the destination and what they need to do. Also safety does play a huge role in this, there have been way too many car accidents a day, a month, a year, for this to just be left alone.
I really like the points that you have brought up. However, for people who live in the suburbs, public transportation just isn’t practical. In the city, it is easy to walk and bus to all the locations one needs to get to, but in the suburbs, it is very spread out and everyone needs to get different places. I don’t think there is much we can do to change this because it is hard to make everyone change their everyday lives. I like how you see both sides of the argument though.