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Cars are Beautiful
There are plenty of beautiful cars out there. Usually, we call them Classic Cars. On the other hand, many people complain that cars increasingly look the same and, therefore, have become boring to look at – especially SUVs (and pickups).
Conclusion: considering everything, cars and their built environments (i.e., streets, parking lots) are boring and increasingly uglier.
Cars are great for Nature Lovers
People in car commercials are always the happiest people on Earth. They are always driving on curvy, lonely roads or through wild nature. But they are harming the very thing that makes the commercial work so well. Motor traffic is responsible for over 50% of Redwood City’s carbon emissions, and according to RWC, that number will be 75% in just a few years with little or no remedy in their plans.
Conclusion: cars are horrible for the environment, even before addressing noise pollution, air pollution, and microplastics from tires.
Cars provide Solitude and Serenity
There are hardly ever any car commercials with other cars in the picture. Those commercial guys might drive through some lonely downtown or over the empty Bay Bridge. Some seem apocalyptic as the driver appears to be the last person on Earth. And these drivers enjoy that.
Conclusion: it turns out that loneliness isn’t good for us. More and longer commutes can lead to a lack of sleep and depression.
Car Commutes are Killing Us
Slate says, “Long commutes cause obesity, neck pain, loneliness, divorce, stress, and insomnia.” When commuting, you can listen to the radio or some podcasts. But what you are not doing is physical work or healthy exercising. You are not with your loved ones or pets or experiencing social connections to the rest of the world.
Conclusion: car manufacturers are increasingly trying to cage and isolate us from the world. And that is not a good thing for humans.
Cars are gold diggers
“Cars suck more cash than most people imagine.” Between purchase price, gas and oil, basic maintenance, and TLC, even a small car comes with a lifetime cost of $689,000. A person driving a larger car might have to spend over $1 million. Thirty to forty percent of those lifetime car costs are paid for by society. And most parking spots are only “free” for the user but costly for the rest of us.
Conclusion: Who says America should not become a socialist country? Cheap gas, lowest gas taxes, freeways, and the freest parking. The USA might be the most socialist country in the world.
Cars are spying on us
If our relationship with cars starts to sound like a very unhealthy and abusive relationship, it gets worse with all the data our vehicles now have about us. That data can help abusive partners track you.
Conclusion: Social Networks make millions by selling your data to advertisers and AI companies. Car companies want in on that.
Why would we accept that kind of punishment from our cars?
Our love for cars is not a healthy relationship of love and respect. Something is seriously wrong, and researchers have come up with a few answers:
- The vehicle is yet another addiction.
- The car behaves like a virus.
Cars are the new Tobacco
“Private cars cause significant health harm. The impacts include physical inactivity, obesity, death and injury from crashes, cardio-respiratory disease from air pollution, noise, community severance and climate change. The car lobby resists measures that would restrict car use, using tactics similar to the tobacco industry.“
The US is the only Western country where pedestrian deaths are rising, and that isn’t a coincidence. To tell you how deep the car lobby goes, I want to give you two little nuggets:
- Vision Zero Network – an organization promoting safety with little to no success – is sponsored by GM, Uber, Lyft, and Waymo
- The UN’s Envoy for Road Safety is Ferrari’s Jean Todt (F1)
Conclusion: Leaders of car organizations – who dislike pedestrians and require speed – are in charge of pedestrian safety in America. Anybody who champions “Education” and “Enforcement” over solid engineering solutions is probably working with or for the car lobby. There is no institution in America doing the “Education,” and cities are constantly cutting back on traffic enforcement, blaming – mostly untrue – budget issues. Police unions often oppose automated solutions that would improve efficiency.
The Car is a Virus
This is the opinion of Prof. Hermann Knoflacher (TU Vienna). He has a number of achievements and titles, apparently one being “the global pedestrian representative of the United Nations.” He also invented the “walkmobile”. Because of people like him, Vienna is constantly in the top 10 city index for “quality-of-life”, “greenest city”, “best bicycle city” and others. Prof. Knoflacher – a visionary – started calling the car a virus long before the rest of us caught on how damaging a virus can be for humanity.
He explains how humans got power, speed and freedom through the invention of cheap cars (the virus) and how that virus altered our brains and our way of thinking. And this virus eventually led to the destruction of our cities in the 1950s through 1970s.
Conclusion: Since the 1970s, more and more smart cities with outstanding leadership have started to fight off that virus that reprogrammed their brains and thinking (Vienna, Amsterdam, Groningen, Ghent, Copenhagen, Oslo, Venice, Zermatt, Freiburg, Seville, …)
Summary
The car did take advantage of our human weaknesses – our tendency for cheap thrills and addictions and our incapability to fend off viruses. Our “Health care providers” and/or “drug dealers” will do anything to keep the streak alive. Politicians – addicted themselves – will keep rerouting public transportation funding and bicycle grants to even more car projects. It required strong-willed, capable leadership and solid laws to reduce smoking. This kind of smart, sensible, health-oriented leadership has not presented itself in the Bay Area. Other North American areas have been improving, while here, the virus is still roaming free.
Post.Scriptum
Alright, if you got absolutely nothing out of this blog post, just keep in mind that Formula One’s Jean Todt is responsible for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists of this world! Pedestrians in Formula One are usually referred to as “Lunatics” and you send goons after them.
Move over Cynicism – Irony has won this round.
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in all blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Redwood City Pulse or its staff.
I love my car: It has given me access to employment and educational opportunities that would not have been available otherwise. It lets me travel to see friends and family. It allows me go to the supermarket and bring home a weeks´ worth of groceries at a time.
Sure, it’s a great idea to improve bike infrastructure and encourage alternate modes of transportation. But cars (especially electric ones) are here to stay, thank goodness.