The number of miles driven in the United States peaked in 2005. From there, it steadily dropped to, as of April 2013, nine percent below the peak and equal to where the country was in January 1995. This decrease has had positive effcts, though. Limiting car usage saves time, improves safety, conserves resources, and causes more social interactions with people.

Recent studies suggest the Americans are buying fewer cars, driving less, and getting fewer licenses as each year goes by. Still, in places like paris, cars are still causing polution. After days of near-record pollution, Paris enforced a partial driving ban to clear the air of the global city. On Monday, motorists with even-numbered license plates were ordered to leave their cars at home or suffer a 22-euro fine. The same would apply to odd-numbered plates the following day. Because of this ban, congestion went dow 60 percent in the capital of France. By haveing fewer cars out on the streets, it lowers rates of traffic and the time it takes people to get to work. Also, in result of a decrease in traffic, there would be less accidents and less lives lost to motorvehicle collisions.

France's tax policy that favors diesel fuel over gasoline results in higher percent of people using diesel vehicles. Diesels make up 67 percent of vehicles in France, compared to 53.3 percent average of diesel engins in the rest of Western Europe. By cutting back on car usage, the world would save an astronomical amount of resources. If people stopped bying cars, there would be less production of them. Thus conserving the metal, as well as other materials, used to make the cars.

"When I had a car I was always tense. I'm much happier this way," said Heidrun Walter, a media trainer and mother of two, as she walked verdent streets where the swish of bicycles and the chatter of wandering children drown out the occasional distant motor. Sitting in a car to get to work, or any where in fact, restricts how much interaction you have with other people. By walking, or even taking public transportation, you get the chance to run into people you know or meet new people.

Time saving, improvement on safety, conservation of resources, and more social face-to-face interactions can be accomplished by limting car usage. The decrease in the percentage of miles driven in the United States from 2005 to 2013 proves that people are starting to understand this. If the pattern persists--and many sociologists believe it will--it will have benificial implications for carbon emissions and the enviornment as well.