Life without cars may seem like a distant dream, but dreams are becoming a reality with new expiremental towns,  banning of driving in some cities, and a national day without cars. Cars are causing, in some cases, more and more pollution everywhere. Although we ignore the signs of pollution everyday, we must face the fact that we are polluting our planet, and something needs to be done about it.

Vauban, Germany. A little city that has a strange law, to live in this city, you must give up your car or pay $40,000 to park it. As a result, "70 percent of Vauban's families do not own cars, and 57 percent sold their car to move here" stated Source 1. Heidrun Walter, a mother of two and a media trainer stated, "When i had a car I was always tense. I'm much happier this way".  This new form of seperate suburban life from auto use is called "Smart Planning".  passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissionsin Europe, and up to 50 percent in the United States.  With Smart Planning, we can cut back on greenhouse gasses and start to breathe cleaner, healthier air.

Another example of over pollution problems due to cars is Paris, France. Source Two states, "After days of near-record pollution, Paris enforced a partial driving ban to clear the air of the global city".  Congestion was down 60 percent for those five days. The reason there was so much smog in the air was due to the diesel fuel. Diesel fuel is the mail fuel used in France, 67 percent of the people there use it.  Another factor could be the climate there. With "cold nights and warm days caused by the warmer layer of air to trap car emissions" Stated in Source Two.

Europe isn't the only continent seeing change. Bogota, Colombia was celebrating its 3rd straight year of, Day Without Cars. The Day Without Cars is a banning of cars and only busses and taxis are permitted.  Carlos Arturo Plaza stated, "It's a good opportunity to take away stress and lower air pollution". For the first time this year, two more Colombian cities, Cali and Valledupar are taking part in this Day Without Cars.

America too is seeing change with cars.  The number of miles driven in the US peaked in 2005, but has been steadily dropping after. As of April 2013, 'the number of miles driven per person was nearly 9 percent below the peak and equal to where the county was in January 1995", states Source four.  Although the drop in car usage will have a benificial effect on the environment, it will have negitave implications for car industries.  Ford and Mercedes are already taking steps to rebrand themselves to "mobility" companies.  Although car companies aren't the only ones changing their ways due to the drop in car usage.  New York started a new bike-sharing program and its skyrocketing.  They have started building more bike paths and tunnel tolls are reflecting the new priorities.

Cars have done enough damage to this earth and its time we fix what we have caused. With all these new eco-friendly and car lacking ideas, we are so close to the isea where we can live without cars taking over our life.