Limiting car usage could greatly benefit the lifestyle of yourself and of those around you. Did you know that motor vehicles are one of the biggest causes of pollution and greenhouse emissions? According to a source by Elisabeth Rosenthal, "Passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. . . and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States." If cars were completely eliminated for a week in an area like New York City, then pollution would be greatly lessened. It would be a good idea to try to take public transportation as often as possible, as opposed to driving to work every day.

Another good reason to limit car usage is to bring together community. There is a city in Germany by the name of Vauban (according to a source by Elisabeth Rosenthal,) which completely bans driving cars. Inhabitants of this community walk or bike everywhere, which is also a good form of exercise that one could do in order to stay fit. The city was designed with walking in mind, and everything is close by as a result. If we were to have more of these communities, then green house emissions could be greatly lowered.

One major reason not to drive a car is that cars are often very expensive. If you live in an area where public transportation is an option, it may be worth it to not buy a car. You'd both help the environment and save a lot of money at the same time! If you're in a city or an area where many things are within walking distance, then you may also notice that there is a lot that you can do, such as walk to a mall or walk to a park, and you would not be harming the environment in any way.

Pollution is one major factor that should be touched upon more than once. According to a source named

Paris bans driving due to smog by Robert Duffer, "after days of near-record pollution, Paris enforced a partial driving ban to clear the air of the global city." Because of the large amount of people constantly driving, it caused the city to become so polluted that they had to ban people's ability to drive. If people carpooled more, or took more public transportation, then this wouldn't have happened. Some delivery companies even complained of "lost revenue."

Lastly, it is a good idea not to drive because of the quickly repleting fuel supply remaining on our planet. Sooner or later, we will run out of gasses to fuel our vehicles with, and we won't have a backup plan. Some areas won't even be remotely affected by this, and people have already created hybrid and electrically powered vehicles. Perhaps if you were to bike more and get used to the idea of not driving, then you will be ready for the inevitable to occur. Although you don't have to cut cars out of your life completely, it's a good idea to start relying more on things that won't run out.

Overall, driving is fun and gets you to far places in much shorter times than it would take you if you walked there. However, there are many dangers and negative effects that come from driving. To recap, the green house gasses that come from cars are dangerous and harmful to our planet, and there should be efforts to lessen these gasses, even it is simply by car pooling or by taking public transportation. Also, people's excessive driving caused an entire city to have to ban driving vehicles. This should probably be a lessen to those that drive a good deal; it's killing the environment!