What’s wrong with cars?

Last update: December 13, 2025

It’s a long list.

Climate change, which is having profound effects on all life on Earth.
Air Pollution, which kills thousands of people each year. “Research suggests that most childhood cancers are probably caused by exposure to pollution...” (source)
Energy consumption, wasting this limited resource, and destroying habitats where it’s taken.
Wars for oil, like the Gulf Wars, which were a direct result of vehicle energy consumption
Broken cities. Cities are built for dependence on cars. Grocery stores are spread out. Sidewalks may be unsufficient, porly-maintained, or non-existent. Getting around other than by car may be difficult to impossible.
Urban sprawl. Cars promote living far from work. That means more driving, meaning more pollution, more energy use, etc.
Death. Cars kill around 40,000 people per year, including people who weren’t driving or passengers, like pedestrians and bicyclists.
Financial burdens. Cars are expensive, and in car-centric countries, they’re hard to do without. A typical vehicle costs $10,000 per year to own and operate. Hence the phrase, “Drive to work, work to drive.”
Wasted space. Enormous amounts of space are devoted to roads and parking, which can't be used for parks, housing, transit, community space, or habitat for animals.
Economic violence. Take the case of Ken Saro-Wiwa. He campaigned in Nigeria to stop Shell and Chevron from taking over native people's lands to drill for oil. The oil companies, in bed with the Nigerian military, had him arrested and killed. This is the kind of thing we’re putting in our tanks every time we fill up.
Higher taxes. Maintaining the infrastructure is expensive. While federal highways are funded through the gas tax, local roads are funded by local taxes.

Pollution

Article on pollution caused by cars, including ground-level ozone, lead, and climate-change effects.
Statistics on vehicle pollution
Natural gas buses might be not much better than diesel

Drivers won’t use the HOV/carpool lanes

by Michael Bluejay, 2-98

A friend and I recently had occasion to drive through Dallas during rush hour, and I had my first opportunity to see how an HOV lane worked. Basically, it didn't. We passed hundreds and hundreds of single-occupant cars in the regular traffic lanes as we zoomed by in the practically-empty HOV lane. It struck me as really crazy: Whenever I try to encourage people to ride bikes more and drive less, they always whine to me about how 'convenient' it is to drive. Well, exactly how 'convenient' is it to sit in your car at a complete standstill, adding 30-60 minutes to your morning commute? That's convenience?! The experience demonstrated to me how far people were willing to go to avoid carpooling. They were willing to sit there like morons, stuck hopelessly in traffic, for the 'luxury' of being the only person in their vehicle. Although I was disappointed that the HOV lanes didn't seem to work, I was at least pleased to realize that all those greedy motorists were being punished with even more traffic congestion, since the HOV lane meant that there was one fewer lane to move all those cars.

Driving vs. Bicycling

Letter to the editor by James E. Burnside

Austin Chronicle's "Postmarks", 7-17-98, p. 8

As a commuter cyclist, I support Ms. Babich's tilting at windmills wholeheartedly. For those of us who do choose the bicycle as our preferred mode of transportation, city of Austin policy (or lack thereof) can have some minor effect on our daily lives. More bike lanes, no parking in bike lanes, maintenance of bike [lanes] and bike trails, etc., are of value, and we are taxpayers and have as much right to safe transportation as any automobilist.

To believe, however, that these policies will have any effect other than continued antagonization of those addicted to automobiles is naïve. No one will give up their car and take up cycling because of some slight shift in city policy. The conversion of motorist to cyclist is not political. It is spiritual. Cycling will never be as convenient as getting in a two-ton, 200-horsepower, gas-guzzling machine so you can pick up a pack of gum at the convenience store on the commercial break of the latest Seinfeld rerun.

Cycling takes discipline, thought, effort, and courage -- qualities of character that most people would rather not develop. Such qualities would only inconvenience those who are trying to suck up as much of the earth's resources as they can before they die.

Gas is cheap, and that’s killing us