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Car Effect On Human Daily Life

Jiaheng Li (Henry)

Student number：227406

Instructor: Nikole Pascetta

Running Head: CAR EFFECT 1

CAR EFFECT 8

York University

Car Effect On Human Daily Life

Introduction

The number of cars worldwide exceeded one billion in the year 2010 according to wardsauto.com. This means that more people prefer to use cars when travelling or moving around. More cars are being manufactured and there are improvements as technology continues to advance. A professor of History explains the history of gasoline powered vehicles in the online article ‘The Automobile and the Environment in American History.’ The article notes that the first gasoline powered car was manufactured in Germany in the year 1886 (Melosi, n.d.). Professor Melosi adds that these vehicles gained popularity over vehicles powered by steam and electricity because gasoline was easily available. The History professor lists the changes made to the vehicles which are; the designs, the size, the weight, and how powerful the engines are. A report on world’s auto industry indicates that in in 1970, the number of cars reached two hundred and fifty million (Sousanis, 2011). The report adds that 1986, the number of cars reached 500 million, in 2009, cars totaled 980 million, while in 2010, the number of cars exceeded one billion. This growth shows that more and more cars will be in use as years go by. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to increased use of cars which need to be carefully addressed as they affect human daily life. Although cars are important to human life, increased use causes traffic congestion which affects the economy, and human health.

The Advantages of Cars and the Future of Cars

Cars are a major part of life, they bring many advantages and make life easier. Two major advantages of using cars are; transport and speed. According to three researchers who focus on improving urban mobility, these has been a significant change in the transport sector as more people own private vehicles (Almeida, Silva & Leite, 2017, p. 32). Almeida and his two research colleagues add that the increased use of private cars has resulted in greater accessibility. Crane, Ecola, Hassel and Nataraj (2012) note that today, cars have become affordable and as a result, they provide mobility which helps people shop for groceries, go to school, attend religious institutions, and vacation (p. 19). Therefore, mobility and accessibility provided by cars has made movement easier, freer, and faster. All in all, this makes daily life better.

Cars offer us both positive and negative effects. The positive effects are experiences arising from a reverse of the disadvantages of the use of cars. According to Abelsohn, Bray, Vakil and Elliott (2005), there has been an increase in the use of cars and as a result, there is “a corresponding increase in smog, air pollution, fatalities and the related health affects” (p. 6). This means is that if there are no cars, the quality of daily human life will be improved. There will be less car accidents and less people will be injured and less people will die from accidents. Illnesses caused by air pollution such as breathing complications will also reduce. Crane, Ecola, Hassel and Nataraj note that cars have changed for the better “where people live and work and how they go about their daily lives” (2012, p. 19). Therefore, without cars, life become a challenge.

As technology continues to improve, so do car technologies which aim to make cars more efficient in terms of energy use and safety. Improving hybrid vehicles for future use is necessary in order have cars which pollute environment less for example electric vehicles (Silberglitt, 2009, p. 121).

Traffic Congestion and the Economy

Although cars have many advantages, their bad effects can not be ignored. In this paragraph, I will discuss traffic congestion and its effect on the economy. Traffic congestion is bound to become more and more serious. According to a Cambridge report, statistics show traffic congestion is linked to population increase and growth in employment. The report notes that population and economic activity are major factors which determine transportation activity, citing continuous growth of these factors since 1982 as the reason why traffic congestion has increased over the years (Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Linking Solutions to Problems, 2004). The impacts of traffic congestion cannot be ignored as they negatively affect the economy. A study on the economic impacts of traffic congestion in the United States metropolitan areas reveals that job growth is delayed by traffic congestion. The researcher further explains that delay in commuting slows productivity and as a result, job growth slows, as so does economic growth (Sweet, 2014). The Cambridge report on traffic congestion explains that initially congestion used to occur during “rush hour” as people travelled to and from work, but now congestion is experienced even during hours considered off-peak (Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Linking Solutions to Problems, 2004).

Because congestion is projected to increase in future, it has become urgent for measures to be taken to find solutions to the traffic congestion crisis. The Cambridge report on traffic congestions recommends three possible ways of dealing with the situation. The first one is expanding roads and building new ones in order to accommodate more vehicles. The second recommendation is using the available transportation system efficiently through proper control and management. The third recommendation is encouraging use of alternative routes to travel to reduce congestion in highways (Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Linking Solutions to Problems, 2004, pp. 10-13 ). It is therefore necessary to deal with traffic congestion in order to improve the economy.

Traffic Congestion, Pollution and Health

Traffic congestion is a major contributor to air pollution which affects health. A report on public health in Ontario explains how increased traffic is a major source of air pollution which in turns affects health. The authors of the report note that “increased driving leads to vehicle emissions that contribute to air pollution and its attendant negative impacts on human health” (p. 8). In the report, the following vehicular emissions are identified as a source of air pollution; oxides of Nitrogen, Particulates, Carbon Monoxide, and Volatile Organic Compounds (pp. 9-10). Most of these harmful substances are released by vehicles. The report on public health in Ontario further explains that traffic pollution affects human health by causing; respiratory illness for example asthma, cardiovascular morbidity and death, cancer, birth defects, and climate change.(pp. 17-18). As traffic congestion increases, air pollution also increases. Air pollution then causes more illnesses and death. A solution therefore would require dealing with the root cause of the problem which is traffic congestion. If traffic congestion is managed, pollution will reduce, and so will human health problems.

Conclusion

Even though cars are important to human life, increased use causes traffic congestion which affects the economy, and human health. Cars are an integral part of our lives and we can get many benefit from using them including free and easy movement from one place to another, and faster movement. However, cars are also harmful to the economy as well as to human health. Increased use of cars causes congestion which reduces work productivity as people spend more time travelling to and from work. Traffic congestion also causes air pollution which causes illnesses and death. In order to reduce the harmful effects of cars on the economy and human health, people should frequently walk to their destinations rather than drive personal cars. Another suggestion is the use of public transit transportation to reduce traffic on highways.

References

Abelsohn, A., Bray, R., Vakil, C., & Elliott, D. (2005). Report on Public Health and Urban Sprawl in Ontario.

Almeida, F., Silva, P., & Leite, J. (2017). Proposal Of A Carsharing System To Improve Urban Mobility. Theoretical And Empirical Researches In Urban Management, 12(3). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26201231

Crane, K., Ecola, L., Hassell, S., & Nataraj, S. (2012). Personal Transportation: Sharing, Rather Than Owning, Vehicles. RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt3fh16f.11

Melosi, M. Automobile and the Environment in American History: Energy Use and the Internal Combustion Engine. Autolife.umd.umich.edu. Retrieved 28 November 2017, from http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Environment/E_Overview/E_Overview3.htm

Silberglitt, R., Wong, A., Bohandy, S., Chow, B., Clancy, N., & Hassell, S. et al. (2009). Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/tr649tbna-teda.17

Sousanis, J. (2011). World Vehicle Population Tops 1 Billion Units. Wardsauto.com. Retrieved 28 November 2017, from http://wardsauto.com/news-analysis/world-vehicle-population-tops-1-billion-units

Sweet, M. (2014). Traffic Congestion’s Economic Impacts: Evidence from US Metropolitan Regions. Sage Journals, 51(10). Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098013505883

Traffic Congestion and Reliability: Linking Solutions to Problems. (2004).