The time for the automobile is slowly passing. More and more people prefer carpooling and walking then driving a car. Why is that? It could be due to the unemployment rate skyrocketing or less people wanting a car. There are many benefits to driving a car. Being able to get to point A to point B, faster travel time, and it is more private than a bus. But what are the downsides? Pollution, more antisocial humans, and the cacaphony of horns and engines. Giving up the car should be on every countries to-do list.

Some nations, such as Paris, France, find out about the downside of cars the hardway. Pollution is a very real problem in todays society. In 2014 the city had a near-record high of pollution, rivaling  Beijing, China, the most polluted city in the world ( source 2). After debating, the French ruling party decided to ban driving for odd and even liscence plate numbers on opposite days until the smog count went down. It took five days, but they managed to have most of the smog cleared. Decisions like these cause controversy everywhere, but we have a responsibility to our planet not to destroy it with greenhouse gases.

In a suburb in Germany, they have a car-free neighborhood. They are allowed to own cars but it costs $40,000 and they can only park at the edge of the neighborhood. This alone caused 70% of the neighborhood to not own cars (source 1). A woman in Vauban,the neighborhood,said that not owning a car makes her less tense and more happy. With this you can conclude that most of her neighbors feel this way also, otherwise they wouldn't have moved there. Having less stressed people, less polluted ariways and less car accidents always sounds like a good solution to me.

In a city in Columbia they have a car-free day, where cars are banned from the city (source 3). Even though it was rainy it did not stop people from particapting at all. In fact, it has even spread across its borders. A businessman said this was a good way to lower stress aswell. Without cars, this city has seen more bikeway paths, parks and community centers being built and rush hour traffic being cut down dramtically. This new trend has promoted people to be more healthy and social. Not only has this affected the airs it has affected business. With more people walking, new resturants and shopping centers have cropped up. Having more and more people spending their money helps their nations economy in great ways.

After all this evidence the only conclusion we can come to is that having less cars would help humans immensly. Not only does it promote physical exercise but but cuts down on polution. Yes, it would have hurt car manufacturers but the businessmen don't exactly just lay down and take it. Bill Ford has already suggested working with the new trend (source 4). Without cars the obesity problem, especially in America, would decrease. As well as the number of asthmatic people. Taking this data and doing something with it would not only help the life living on this planet, but it would help the planet too.