Fresh clean air, spotless streets and no car accidents. Welcome to Vauban, Germany.  The 5,500 people of this town are a part of something that this day and age has never seen.  The residents here have given up their cars, and are a part of an experiment where their streets are completely "car-free"!

After this experiment started in Germany, it's population would agree that the tense-ness they were feeling with their cars is now gone.  This new way of living was started in 2006 and other countries would agree that it is a smart move and an affordble way of living.  The residents of Vauban have more money to spend on other necessities such as clothing and food, or maybe some entertainment, even.  All of their monthly car payments and gasoline bills have ceased to exist because they simply have no reason to pay the prices anymore without a car.  Citizens of this little town don't have to walk (or ride their bikes) far because the city has thought this movement out very well.  All of the stores are placed just a walk away rather than their malls being placed on a distant highway.  Public transportation has become more accessible and there is more space for side-walks rather than roads. For some, this is a dream town for them and their children. There isn't much of a worry about air polution or accidents.

If you were to compare Vauban's air pollution to Bejing's the difference would be austounding.  Just last night, NBC Nightly News showed the city of Bejing where the smog was so dense that visibility was reduced to almost none.  The majority of the population won't go outside with out wearing a mask to protect them selves.  All of the air pollutants could be harming us even with a potential risk of lung cancer.  The mayor of Bejing has even made a statement talking about his city's air, and the risk and threat it poses to his residents.  Even the common person will recognize that the gas emissions from a car's tail pipe equals pollution.  Paris officials knew this too, and understood that their city had an air cleanliness issue.  So, in an effort to make the City of Love more pleaseable they limited what cars could drive on what days.  They enforced a partial driving ban to clear the smog in the city.  For a short amount of time only even-numbered cars, for example, could drive on a Monday.  If odd numbered cars were on the street then there would be a 22 Euro fine (that equals 31 USD's).  After 5 days, car traffic and conjestion was down around 60% on the streets, and the air pollution started clearing.

Fatal crashes are among the one of the third highest risks for all American's.  Some states have even made it a law to not text and drive, and in some states there probably is a "no talking on the cell phone law" too!  If the number of cars are reduced -or taken away all together- I feel that the lives of the American people are less at risk.  Every day, and not just in this country, hundreds of people are injuring them selves or getting killed by distracted driving, hit-and-runs, and driving under the influence.  It could be beneficial to cut down the car usage and up the number of public transportation avaible to the public.

In any major city you go to in the United States, all around you, you can notice the large amounts of people walking to where they need to go.  In Washington D.C. bike rentals are

EVERYWHERE.  And if you don't want to take a bike then take the D.C. Metro.  The same will go for New York City or anywhere with a large population of people.  You will also notice that city folk tend to be slimmer than others.  That is most likley due to the fact that they walk everywhere.  Just like I mentioned before, like Vauban, eveything in a major city is usually within walking distance.  As we all know, walking is a form of excersize and it is recomemnded by health officials that each person should get at least 1 hour every day and it is very believeable that a city go-er gets plenty more than the recomended.  The first lady has started a program for children in an effort to get them moving, fit and healthy as well. Some children in New York City won't even drive a single day in their lives- or worry about what could happen if they do.  Also, the Capital of Colombia-Bogota- has organized a day for it's residence to avoid taking their car.  It is called the Day Without Cars and the major goal is to reduce smog and promote walking.

All in all.. Cars, the most dangerous driving force in our daily lives, should be cut back on.  Even with study after study coming out and proving just how danger and non-beneficial to our health they are, they are slowly losing populatiry.  If this pattern stays consistant then sociologists say that it will have great effects on the atmosphere, and our healthy lives that we all live.