Ever since their invention, cars have been a very important part of the modern society. Everywhere you look there is someone driving to work, or shopping, or going to a doctor's appointment. These are all advantages to  having a car, but if you look closer you can see how these cars may be doing more harm than help. Air pollution is the problem most people see, however cars also keep people from face to face contact when you pass someone on the road, and you can't overlook the extravagant cost of having a car. These are the points of intrest for many scientists, sociologists, and general people all over the world.

Air pollution, the bane of existance for every health and nature lover, is a massive problem that is getting way out of control. In an article by Elisabeth Rosenthal, she explains that passenger  cars are responsible for twelve percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and up to fifty percent in some parts of the United States! If you reduce the amount of cars on the roads, it would lower those numbers drastically. For example, in Paris, they banned certain cars from driving on certain days. The result was astonishing! Street congestion alone went down by seventy percent.

While the pollution goes up, the amount of face to face contact of people goes down. Someone in a car could pass someone else on the highway without knowing that that was someone that they haven't seen in months or even years! Without cars the main way of transportation would be walking and/or biking. When walking and biking you have the ability to talk to people . That person you haven't seen in forever can see you and strike up a conversation. Someone who has had a bad morning can have the opportunity to let out some steam instead of  going to work angry and upset.

Something you absolutely can't avoid about cars is the cost. Between the car's cost itself, the insurance every month, the cost of repairs, and the constantly rising gas prices, many people can barely afford it. Without all of those costs, most people could have more money for their home, groceries, education, and many other things.

You can already see the improvements. In 2012, a study showed that driving by younger people decreased by twenty-three percent between 2001 and 2009. Another study showed that there has been a large drop in the percentage of sixteen to thirty nine year olds  getting a license. These are the steps we need to take, this is the path to a better, healthier planet as well as the people on that planet.