Wherever one goes in the world there is most likely going to be our favourite, or despised, 4 wheeled friend. The car has come a long way; expanding and growing, bending to the will of the people, and propelling us down some fantastic bits of road, but do we need them as much as we think?
In one of our routine supermarket trips my fiancee and I were having a discussion about cycling. She feels it's a freedom that is not only good for you, but harms no one around you. In all honesty she has a point, if we all rode bicycles an accident would just involve a skinned knee or two. There would be no insurance rip offs, or having to take each others details on old bits of paper you found under the car seat. I immediately defended my beloved cars stating, without them, most of us could not get to work making it a necessity of life. But is it?
Where's the line?
A necessity of life. That's a bold statement, but where does the line stop for the essentials? I don't believe anyone has died just because they haven't been able to drive a car, so it's not quite as necessary as food. Many of my friends don't drive, more down to the affordability than choice. The bus or bicycle still gets you to where you need to be, like work, so you can still buy food at the end of the week.
Necessity to live maybe a bit far then, cars are definitely a convenience and a lot of fun, but are very expensive. If you stop and think, break it down, you start to realise maybe, this mentality of needing a car in your life is just something that's been instilled in our brains. If you had to start again without a car, could you survive?
This is all just trying to get people to think differently, not angrily. I'm still a car fan that will continue to love cars. I feel sometimes, however, the respect for a car can often be forgotten, especially the longer you own the same one. This discussion with my fiancee got me thinking about cars in a new light. I guess a renewed appreciation.
A turn in thought
Without cars, people may end up travelling less to get to work, which in turn could bring more work across the country rather than centralised within our cities. It may also bring down the forever increasing price of train tickets. Fitter people are also meant to have better mindsets, meaning there could also be less road rage and stress on a general day to day commute.
It's too much to think getting rid of cars will solve everything that's wrong. On the other hand bicycles are fun, and public transport can get you from A to B most of the time. Places like Denmark and Sweden that have some of the most bicycle-friendly cities, also have some pretty friendly people, which makes you think something about being in the open rather than a metal box, gives a bigger sense of community and caring for others around you.
But why are we so fanatic about cars?
No matter the argument, however, there's a romance surrounding the car. Nothing quite beats the feeling of the tyres under you as you drive over bumps and around a good set of corners, expressing your style. You are in control of the car and it responds as if an extension of your arm. So it's no wonder we all want to defend them.
Is it a necessity of life? No, that's just a poor excuse to justify an expensive, luxurious convenience, which is a lot of fun.
Where does that leave us?
At the end really.
To summarise, as much as we love cars they are an expensive convenience which some people aren't able to afford. We should give cars more appreciation and respect for being what they really are. Be it a bit old or not as powerful as you want, you should still love your car for being a car and because you are a true car lover.
Let us all just give a little more love on the roads we enjoy, and drop this inbred rivalry. Humans are communal animals and the joy of the machine, be it a car or alternative, should be able to be appreciated and loved by each individual.
So which ever side of the argument you sit on let us not despise each others opinions, but instead open up more as a community, expressing our passions and be grateful that, however we get around, we have the opportunity to do so in whatever we want and in the thing we love most.
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Comments (9)
Great insight on one of the most controversial and crucial questions to answer. I do believe at one point, we won’t need cars anymore, with all the tech that will make us do all the work we need without moving a step. For instance, computers and the internet eliminated our needs to head to the libraries looking through dusty shelves as a small example. But still needs and wants are different and that is why I believe cars will survive. We don’t need to hunt anymore but still we(or some of us at least) enjoy the feeling of a shotgun cracking to catch game. We have cell phones but still we love to wear watches. And I believe that is the point of it. We will pursue what we love and for petrolheads like us, it will be the joy of driving that we will.
I don't need but I WANT
👍🏻👍🏻
I work ten minutes from home and can walk it there in around 45 minutes. I’m not in a city. Without my car for a few days due to a service and a couple of little jobs on it I managed to arrange lifts, however one day I was forced to use a bus. Two buses in fact to get home. It took an hour! Hot, crowded and seats had some interesting smells and stains. Running a car is worth every penny to ensure my commute is twenty minutes and not two hours. Cycling not an option as we have no showering facilities at work and frankly I’d look awful in Lycra
The inefficiency of busses out side of London always frustrates me. Anywhere I go it's always a car for the very same reason.
Depends If you are In a rural area you would want to have a car because something like Uber would cost as much as you earned that week.
Having lived in a rural area I can 100% agree, in the city however people just don't get it and I think this divide is the problem we are seeing when it comes to current automotive decisions.
Getting rid of cars might work in Europe were public transportation is decently built up. But here in the US, it doesnt work. Our PT is almost non existent. Our housing costs in the cities are too high vs wages, which results in living farther away from work just so you can afford to get to work.