However steep the bills for cars, insurance, automobile maintenance, and gasoline may seem to drivers, federal and state policies spare them many other costs. The net effect is to make driving seem cheaper than it really is and to encourage the excessive use of automobiles and trucks. With less than 5 percent of world's population, we consume a quarter of the world's oil, half of which is burned in motor vehicles. Some of the costs are conspicuous.
Traffic congestion strangles our cities.
Los Angeles now has freeway speeds averaging less than 31 mph. It results in lost time, lower worker productivity, more accidents, wasted fuel, and increased auto maintenance. Constant highway construction and road improvement is another obvious cost. Other costs of our automotive obsession are associated with the 47,000 people killed in motor vehicle accidents each year. These deaths, and 5 million additional injuries annually, result in medical expenses, lost work time, and other costs not directly covered by user insurance.