Cars are the among worst inventions of all time

Was going to post my own rant, but this guy summarises it nicely:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142043

If we care so much about the environment, why not ban cars entirely, and have a good network of public transport? It works in many European cities. People in rural areas need cars you say? Move them to cities. Trains are prone to union action? They don't need human drivers any more.

Ever since the invention of the car, population density in cities in the West has decreased. Infrastructure built for cars reduced space for human habitation and services in cities. A thousand people making the same journey in cars spews out more pollution, and takes up more space, than the same number of people in buses, or trains.

At the moment we are targeting industry with emission cuts, at huge cost to society, but we could instead ban cars; imagine the fall in emissions.

Electric cars are not a saviour; most electricity is not renewable; if it were, then it would be expensive or from nuclear sources.

(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1

Jonny360

Because we aren't authoritarian

Reply 2

username1221160

For the reasons listed in that post, cars are a blight. I wouldn't go as far as banning them, but I wish we would move away from our slavish dependency on them. Regarding the deaths they cause or the environmental damage, people claim to care but ultimate don't. Unfortunately modern consumer culture is built upon the principle that we can ignore any cost we don't personally have to pay for. So people are happy to pollute away and reluctant to take personal responsibility like giving up their car.

Reply 3

Johann von Gauss

Original post by Jonny360

Because we aren't authoritarian

Is that the only argument for the existence of cars? We ban lots of dangerous items - guns, chemicals, drugs - and cars should be no different, seeing as they are destroying the entire flipping planet!

Reply 4

JC.

Original post by Johann von Gauss

If we care so much about the environment,

I reject the premise of your argument.
You can shove your eco-freakery where the sun don't shine pal.

The best invention EVER is the petrol V8.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

ikhan94

I think cars are the best, get to your destination 10x quicker

Reply 6

Johann von Gauss

Original post by ikhan94

I think cars are the best, get to your destination 10x quicker

Not really, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, since trains are considerably faster than cars.

Reply 7

djmans

I guess no one here is a car guy, and banning them would not stop anything. Useless post

Reply 8

Siberiaan

They're quite useful for long distance travel , especially if you dislike public transport , i.e everyone.

Reply 9

Johann von Gauss

Original post by TSR Mustafa

They're quite useful for long distance travel , especially if you dislike public transport , i.e everyone.

Heavy duty vacuum cleaners are useful, but have been banned by EU for environmental reasons. If they are banned, why not cars?!

Reply 10

Siberiaan

Original post by Johann von Gauss

Heavy duty vacuum cleaners are useful, but have been banned by EU for environmental reasons. If they are banned, why not cars?!

Not all cars are petrol guzzling monsters , pretty sure electric cars don't do much harm to the environment. Also , heavy duty vacuum cleaners aren't a necessity , cars for a lot of people are.

Reply 11

JRM3PM

Stupid thread, stupid idea.

Reply 12

contradicta

Am I supposed to take a train from my house to the Mcdonalds drive thru? hmmm

Reply 13

driftawaay

I dont really care about the planet being destroyed, so I aint giving up cars for ****ty public transport

Reply 14

Johann von Gauss

Original post by TSR Mustafa

Not all cars are petrol guzzling monsters , pretty sure electric cars don't do much harm to the environment. Also , heavy duty vacuum cleaners aren't a necessity , cars for a lot of people are.

Electric cars do a lot of harm to the environment; electricity isn't just created from thin air, it is created by burning coal, oil, gas, a fraction of it from renewables. The point is, public transport is so much more efficient; the same fuel/electricity it takes to power a few cars could power a bus, but a bus carries more people

Original post by york_wbu

Stupid thread, stupid idea.

Stupid comment

Original post by contradicta

Am I supposed to take a train from my house to the Mcdonalds drive thru? hmmm

You could walk... which, if you are eating from McDonals, you probably should do

Reply 15

Siberiaan

Original post by Johann von Gauss

Fair enough , but they do less damage then cars who rely on petrol/diesel since they don't harm the environment whilst in use. In terms of what's best for the environment then public transport is more efficient. But ultimately it's not ever going to happen since majority of people don't care about the environment.

Reply 16

Johann von Gauss

Original post by TSR Mustafa

It's not all about the environment; if we designed cities around public transport, cyclists, and pedestrians, they'd be much more pleasant places to live, rather unlike the noisy, smoky modern dystopia

Reply 17

Bupdeeboowah

Blaming cars for car deaths, and not other factors such as drink-driving, is not not a good argument.

Neither is the argument that cars are the cause of the decay of urban centres - it is the cost of urban centres which makes it necessary to live outside the area in a better place and commute by car - which then proceeds to cause the said urban centres to become less popular and decay.

Nor is the unsubstantiated claim that cars are a cause of high obesity rates a particularly convincing argument.

Cars may very well be the worst thing ever invented, but that person who wrote the article is very much the worst thing ever created.

Reply 18

TheMcSame

Why not ban cars entirely? Because people will loose thousands and it'll destroy the economy... The motor industry and fuel industry bring in billions every year. Not to mention the amount of jobs that would disappear and the amount of unemployed people it would generate, getting a job is already a struggle for some. Given that we're a capitalist society, cars would never be banned because the industry rakes in so much money.

Move people living in rural areas to cities? Not practical, if they're living in a rural area then they obviously don't want to live in a city. Not to mention the cost of living is higher in cities and not just everyone can go buy an apartment just like that...

Automated trains? Getting rid of human drivers, again, jobs would disappear and the number of unemployed would skyrocket.

We should ban China from Earth, the idea sounds just as stupid yet far more effective.

Reply 19

Johann von Gauss

Original post by TheMcSame

Jobs and the economy... using this logic, we should be glad for the existence of the mafia, since they employ people!

Cost of living in cities is high, but so is the price of driving everywhere.