Cars and what really matters, part 3 or 4, depending on the blog

Righto, so we are still burning fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide and
changing the atmosphere. Cars play a part here, but my biggest beef is that
cars wreak havoc with the community. Think it through. When we walk around
we do ourselves some good and help to populate the streets with people.
People we can see, get to know and talk to. When we ride a bike we again do
ourselves some good and have a low impact on the environment. We aren't as
stoppable and easy to chat with but we are visible and usually able to
raise a cheery wave. Now seal yourself in a car.

I've said it before, I love the freedom and the thrill of driving. I own an
'82 Alfa GTV and occasionally pollute the environment with smoke and noise.
But I take care to go slowly through the local community and only light the
wick when I'm well away from causing undue hazard. And the GTV only gets a
run once or twice a week, if that. Other times I have more recent,
lower-polluting small-footprint hatchbacks at my disposal.

But no matter what I do I'm sealed in my tin can. I'm isolated from the
community behind glass and steel. I can further isolate myself with loud
music. I can aircondition my car's interior and further step away from
contact with "the outside". I have divorced myself from the people on the
streets. Just like everyone else. So I can hide. I can do what I want and
take liberties. I can forget about the impact that I make when I proceed -
legally - at 50, 60, 70 or even 80kmh between houses, past driveways,
schools, shops, through intersections and so on. I'm aware of the traffic,
the pedestrians, the kids, the dogs and other objects that may leap out at
me but essentially they have become objects - just something to look out
for, a slight impediment to forward motion. I have convinced myself that
passing between lines of houses at 60kmh is my right. It's safe - no one
dies. Well, maybe occasionally, but most deaths occur on country roads so
we must have the city driving thing licked, eh?

Well yeah, sure. Because we have scared people off the streets. We can
drive at 60kmh or thereabouts within a couple of metres of the footpath and
just swish past intersections, houses, shops and kids because the
'obstacles' have learned to back away. Kids are trained to look right, left
and right again (or whatever way you do it in your country). Pedestrians
have learnt to wait for a gap before crossing, or to give up and drive. It
looks safe statistically but what we actually have in our pleasant suburbia
is a background of noise and fear that we simply accept. Maybe you are
happy with the trade off. I think we can do better!

Gotta go - must jump in the car again and drive that massive 1.1km to the
shops!


Cheers


Rob.