Societal impacts of cars

World map of motorization rates, i.e. road vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants:
  601+
  501–600
  301–500
  151–300
  101–150
  61–100
  41–60
  21–40
  11–20
  0–10

Since the start of the twentieth century, the role of cars has become highly important, though controversial. They are used throughout the world and have become the most popular mode of transport in many of the more developed countries. In developing countries cars are fewer and the effects of the car on society are less visible, however they are nonetheless significant. The spread of cars built upon earlier changes in transport brought by railways and bicycles. They introduced sweeping changes in employment patterns, social interactions, infrastructure and the distribution of goods.

Automobiles provide easier access to remote places and mobility, in comfort, helping people to geographically widen their social and economic interactions. Negative effects of the car on everyday life are also significant. Although the introduction of the mass-produced car represented a revolution in industry and convenience,[1][2] creating job demand and tax revenue, the high motorisation rates also brought severe consequences to the society and to the environment.

The modern negative associations with heavy automotive use include the use of non-renewable fuels, a dramatic increase in the rate of accidental death, the disconnection of local community,[3][4] the decrease of local economy,[5] the rise in cardiovascular diseases, the emission of air and noise pollution, the emission of greenhouse gases, generation of urban sprawl and traffic, segregation of pedestrians and other active mobility means of transport, decrease in the railway network, urban decay, and the high cost per unit-distance of private transport.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Since many people don't have cars, the resulting inequality intensifies structural inequalities and causes irreparable damage to the environment. Hence, neglecting the negative externalities of private automobility is irresponsible, and replacing combustion engine vehicles with EVs is merely a strategy to lose more slowly from social and environmental points of view. [13]

  1. ^ Bardou, J.-P.; Chanaron, J.-J.; Fridenson, P.; Laux, J. M. (30 November 1982). "THE AUTOMOBILE REVOLUTION--THE IMPACT OF AN INDUSTRY". Revue d'Économie Politique.
  2. ^ Davies, Stephen (1989). "Reckless Walking Must Be Discouraged". Urban History Review. 18 (2): 123–138. doi:10.7202/1017751ar. ISSN 0703-0428.
  3. ^ Kasarda, John D.; Janowitz, Morris (1974). "Community Attachment in Mass Society". American Sociological Review. 39 (3): 328–339. doi:10.2307/2094293. JSTOR 2094293.
  4. ^ Moss, Stephen (28 April 2015). "End of the car age: how cities are outgrowing the automobile". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  5. ^ Handy, Susan L.; Clifton, Kelly J. (1 November 2001). "Local shopping as a strategy for reducing automobile travel". Transportation. 28 (4): 317–346. doi:10.1023/A:1011850618753. ISSN 0049-4488. S2CID 153612928.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Delft was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Holtz Kay, Jane (1998). Asphalt Nation: how the automobile took over America, and how we can take it back. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21620-2.
  8. ^ Woodcock, James; Aldred, Rachel (21 February 2008). "Cars, corporations, and commodities: Consequences for the social determinants of health". Emerging Themes in Epidemiology. 5 (4): 4. doi:10.1186/1742-7622-5-4. PMC 2289830. PMID 18291031.
  9. ^ Gössling, Stefan; Kees, Jessica; Litman, Todd (1 April 2022). "The lifetime cost of driving a car". Ecological Economics. 194: 107335. Bibcode:2022EcoEc.19407335G. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107335.
  10. ^ Andor, Mark A.; Gerster, Andreas; Gillingham, Kenneth T.; Horvath, Marco (April 2020). "Running a car costs much more than people think — stalling the uptake of green travel". Nature. 580 (7804): 453–455. Bibcode:2020Natur.580..453A. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01118-w. PMID 32313129.
  11. ^ Williams, Ian D.; Blyth, Michael (1 February 2023). "Autogeddon or autoheaven: Environmental and social effects of the automotive industry from launch to present". Science of the Total Environment. 858 (Pt 3): 159987. Bibcode:2023ScTEn.85859987W. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159987. PMID 36372167.
  12. ^ Miner, Patrick; Smith, Barbara M.; Jani, Anant; McNeill, Geraldine; Gathorne-Hardy, Alfred (1 February 2024). "Car harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environment". Journal of Transport Geography. 115: 103817. Bibcode:2024JTGeo.11503817M. doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103817. hdl:20.500.11820/a251f0b3-69e4-4b46-b424-4b3abea30b64.
  13. ^ Hosseini, Keyvan; Stefaniec, Agnieszka (2023). "A wolf in sheep's clothing: Exposing the structural violence of private electric automobility". Energy Research & Social Science. 99: 103052. Bibcode:2023ERSS...9903052H. doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.103052. hdl:2262/102321. ISSN 2214-6296.