Effects of cars

Cars affect many people not just drivers and car passengers. The externalities of automobiles, similarly to other economic externalities, are the measurable difference in costs for other parties to those of the car proprietor, such costs not taken into account when the proprietor opts to drive their car. According to Harvard University, the main externalities of driving are local and global pollution, oil dependence, traffic congestion and traffic collisions; while according to a meta-study conducted by the Delft University these externalities are congestion and scarcity costs, accident costs, air pollution costs, noise costs, climate change costs, costs for nature and landscape, costs for water pollution, costs for soil pollution and costs of energy dependency. Some say that road users should pay for their pollution. The negative externalities can be substantial, since the driver does not take into account, for example, the negative effects of air pollution on third parties, when they opt to drive their car. Legislators and regulators can internalize those external costs, either by taxes on fuels for example, either by any kind of limitation to car usage, such as parking meters or urban tolls. Nevertheless, it seems the drivers in some countries, already pay some external costs with taxes. Road taxes in the Netherlands for instance, have a relatively high yearly value, which covers the maintenance of the infrastructures. Nevertheless, in the majority of western nations, the external costs of driving, are not covered totally either by taxes, or by any kind of car usage limitation. Increased reliance on the automobile leads to increased road congestion. While expansions in road capacity are often touted as relieving congestion, induced demand often means that any reductions in congestion are temporary. Cars are the leading cause of fatal collisions in many countries, and are the leading cause of death of youth and children. In 2010, car crashes in the United States resulted in 32,999 deaths and a projected $871 billion cost to society, around 6% of the United States 2010 GDP.

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Car costs

A car's internal costs are all the costs consumers pay to own and operate a car. Normally these expenditures are divided into fixed or standing costs and variable or running costs. Fixed costs are those which do not depend on the distance traveled by the vehicle and which the owner must pay to keep the vehicle ready for use on the road, like insurance or road taxes. Variable or running costs are those that depend on the use of the car, like fuel or tolls.

Effects of the car on societies

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, the effects of the car on society are not as visible, however they are nonetheless significant. The development of the car built upon the transport sector first started by railways. This has introduced sweeping changes in employment patterns, social interactions, infrastructure and the distribution of goods.

Car dependency

Car dependency is the concept that some city layouts cause cars to be favoured over alternate forms of transportation, such as bicycles, public transit, and walking. In many modern cities, automobiles are convenient and sometimes necessary to move easily. When it comes to automobile use, there is a spiraling effect where traffic congestion produces the 'demand' for more and bigger roads and removal of 'impediments' to traffic flow. For instance, pedestrians, signalized crossings, traffic lights, cyclists, and various forms of street-based public transit, such as trams.

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Automobiles have become counter-productive. Negative externalities resulting from car use have overcome the social benefits automobiles brought when initially introduced. Having shaped most contemporary transportation systems, the automobility regime is kn ...

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Collective transport has been seen for long as a proper solution to fight congestion. While collectivity has been successful with respect to subways, it is not the norm in road traffic. Dedicated Bus Lanes (DBL) have been proposed as a measure to reduce th ...

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