Automobile

{{Sources needed}}[[File:Mercedes-simplex-508.jpg|thumb|right|165px|This Mercedes likely won't help you get a date. Unless they're 127 years old or a goth.]]{{Enviro}}
'''Automobiles''' are a common form of transport in much of the developed world. Also known as cars, they are generally large, multi-ton wheeled carriages powered by combustion, electric, or hydrogen engines. These vehicles are capable of travelling long distances at a respectable speed. Unfortunately, most automobiles burn [[fossil fuel]]s, a non-[[Renewable energy|renewable]] resource that pollutes the atmosphere. The [[carbon]] dioxide emissions from these fuels also contribute to [[global warming]].

==Brief history==
The first automobile was designed in 1886. The new invention started to get popular as a non-shitting horse-carriage alternative, and by 1908 "entrepreneurs" had started mass-producing cars. Soon the automobile's body style began to diversify (e.g. hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, etc.). The automotive toys surged to popularity through the 1910s and the Roaring Twenties, especially in the prospering [[United States]]. [[Great Depression|The Great Depression]] and [[World War II|WW2]] soon cut back demand, and sales fell dramatically as fuel and factories were rationed for the war effort. About a decade later, the car started to become an object of desire again as Japanese and Europeans started to churn out small, economical vehicles, while the Americans helped themselves to the colossal land-yachts with their gas-guzzling engines. That is, until the {{wpl|1973 oil crisis}} happened and quirky little vehicles found their ways into the masses' homes and kennels. Some time after, large cars built on truck chassis, called "sport utility vehicles" (SUVs), became popular in the U.S. during the 1990s as status symbols, and eventually in Europe in the early 2000s. Fuel-price increases and empty wallets after [[Great Recession | the events of 2007 onward]] led the public to stop buying large numbers of SUVs. The stock-market crash also 
begat
brought forth the rise of hybrid-electric and electric vehicles as an alternative to fossil-fuel (gasoline/diesel/LNG) combustion engines. In the 2010s, the electric vehicle begun to appear on the roads in numbers as [[Tesla Motors | Tesla]] launched their Model S (and eventually 3/X/Y) as a heavier, more technologically focused, and zero-emissions alternative to the traditional {{wpl | Internal combustion engine | ICE}}-powered automobile. As of 2024, the gas car still gets the most market share, but electric vehicles are quickly climbing up in numbers as Chinese, American, German, and whatnot automakers compete for the biggest touchscreen they can fit in their automobiles.

==Car woo==
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the other kind of automotive woo.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSgYtmCnyYw WOO WOO CAR WHISTLE INTERVIEW] on [[YouTube]]</ref>}}
Automotive [[woo]] is the promotion of certain goods and services that ostensibly improve one's driving experience but are not founded in science… though this fact rarely ever stops the petrol heads from trying it anyway.

* Special spark plugs make your car run better:
** Actually, ''new'' spark plugs often make your car run better. The ''correct'' ones (''i.e.'', the type specified by the manufacturer) make it run best. Proper gapping is also necessary, as too small a gap or too large a gap can cause misfiring.
* A quart of magic goo will clean and preserve your engine or transmission, improve operation, and fix minor problems:
** Proper engine oil, lubricants, conditioners, and detergents work best, and run no risk of engine ''damage''. Note, however, that these products might mask the symptoms of a problem without actually fixing it. A number of these so-called "engine treatments" such as {{wpl|Dura Lube}} and Slick 50 have previously been investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for making unsubstantiated claims about improved engine performance and reliability.<ref>[https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/1999/09/prolong-super-lubricants-settles-ftc-charges Prolong Super Lubricants Settles FTC Charges]</ref>
* Inflating your tires with nitrogen will 
make it talk funny
 do some magical stuff:
** Race tires are filled with nitrogen because the extreme temperatures caused by doing sharp turns at 300 km/h turns water and oxygen into chemical reactives that can degrade rubber; on a normal civilian car that rarely does anything beyond 120 km/h, this effect is negligible.
** For similar reasons, aircraft tires are filled with dry nitrogen. Unless one is in the habit of using friction with the pavement to spin the wheels from zero up to a comfortable margin above aerodynamic stall speed (which is mighty flippin' fast in the case of most road vehicles, on the order of space shuttle re-entry speed) the benefit is negligible. 
* Inserting a stamped metal "air twister" into the intake will increase mileage
** Without going too deep into math and engineering reasons, no, they won't. Simply, if a $1 stamped piece of metal could increase fuel mileage by any significant amount, every manufacturer would already install them into new automobiles.
* Using premium grades of fuel will increase power:
** This applies if and only if your car is ''designed'' to run on premium; in that case, lower octane fuel ''will'' reduce your power and economy. In many older performance engines (and even modern very high performance applications), running regular unleaded can cause problems such as pre-ignition, or "knocking". If a car requires, or even recommends premium, it will say so in the owner's manual, and usually on the gas cap as well. Otherwise, "premium" just costs more for no benefit. Odds are, if the car isn't a high performance or muscle car, it's designed for regular unleaded gasoline. Some newer cars recommend premium, but can still run fine on regular unleaded, albeit not at peak performance.
* [[Water-powered car|Send $20 and we'll send you blueprints for converting your car to run on nothing but water!]]
** You get some hypothetical [[Bullshit|BS]]; none of these actually work. You would have to produce incredible amounts of electricity to run most of these designs, and where would you get that power from? THAT'S RIGHT, from the engine - so in the worst case, they would explode or light your alternator on fire, and at best do nothing. You're better off sending that money to the ad underneath it selling instructions for building your own flying device out of a lawnmower engine.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIXJBrclLY Flying lawnmower] on [[YouTube]]</ref>
* A really big exhaust will make it go faster! 
** While increasing the exhaust diameter of the entire system can indeed increase power (it is, in fact, one of the first modifications generally carried out by those seeking a faster car), and can even increase fuel economy, simply putting a large muffler on the end of your stock pipe does nothing. Also, once you reach a certain point, increasing your car's exhaust pipe diameter does nothing.
* Our fuel is better than their fuel because it's enhanced with (fill in the blank: some no-knock compound, magic [[Fun:Fairies|pixie]] dust, a tiger)... etc. etc.:
** Doubtful unless the additive improves the octane rating, although even this has dubious benefits unless the car is designed to run on premium. Good ole hooch ([[ethanol]]) is one of them: the octane rating of pure C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>5</sub>OH is 106. One rarely mentioned factor that can improve fuel quality is age. As fuel sits in the tank, condensation increases the amount of water present in the fuel. Therefore, freshly pumped fuel will be of superior quality to that which has sat in the tank for ages. Also, modern gasoline ages quite rapidly, and condenses junk on fuel system components, rendering them inoperable. If a motor is to sit for a while without being run, fuel stabilizers (about the only magical bottled product that actually works) are advised to prevent "varnishing", and the build-up of condensation.
** Detergents are another useful additive which prevent deposits on fuel injectors and valves. All fuel sold in the USA meets a minimum EPA standard for detergent content. An alternative standard developed by BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen known as Top Tier contains higher levels of detergents and such fuel is recommended by these automakers.
** If you run a (gasp!) diesel car (which already do have darn good thermodynamic efficiencies and mileages), be aware of the diesel contaminants, such as diesel bug. That is a bacterium which consumes diesel fuel and produces nasty black goo, contaminating fuel lines. Using biocides and emulgators, such as StarBrite, ''will'' improve your mileage — by simply keeping the fuel lines clean.

==Fuel economy==

===Fuel woo===
A common form of automotive woo is fuel economy woo: devices that claim to improve fuel economy. It becomes more common during temporary spikes in prices of fuel (1974, 1980, 2008). Most vendors of these products also claim an increase of power "up to" some percentage.

Examples:

* Adding [[gas-saving magnets|standard magnets]] to your fuel line
* Shoving a [[Fuel Doctor|dildo with some flashing lights]] into your cigarette lighter
* Attaching a [[Energy Polarizer|box with a crystal inside it]] anywhere on your car
* Adding "[[HHO gas]]" (from an underhood electrolyser) to the intake will improve economy by completely burning all fuel. As stated above, these devices get their power from the engine in the first place, so the tuning on these devices would have to be so incredibly precise, as to not be worth it at all. That is, if the car has unburnt fuel to begin with.
* Homebrew "water injection" devices to add to your carburetor were promoted during the late 1970s "energy crisis", in such magazines as ''The Mother Earth News''. The fuel economy improvement from these is so negligible, why bother? In order to see any real improvement, you would have to retune the engine to run extremely lean, bypass the radiator to keep in the heat, and pump in some serious amounts of water — all of which would rust the whole thing to junk in about 10,000 miles after you turned your car into a comically oversized tea kettle. Water or methanol injection is used in some high-powered turbo or supercharged cars, as well as a number of WWII aircraft engines, to cool the charge in the cylinders, but people doing this are not concerned with efficiency so much as getting the maximum power out of their motors without overheating them. To be precise, the water injection works as a chemical intercooler (nitrous oxide works as chemical supercharger): it cools down the fuel-air mixture, increasing its density and decreasing its volume. It is of little use on freely breathing engines without blower or turbo.

For more, see the [[EPA]]'s "Gas Saving and Emission Reduction Devices Evaluation".<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020526061129/http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/reports.htm</ref>

===Legitimate techniques===
[[File:Ride with hitler.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Carpooling is a great way to maximize fuel economy, reduce emissions, and save America!]]
"Hypermiling" is the obsessive-compulsive practice of utilizing driving techniques to maximize fuel economy. While unlike any of the above, this does improve fuel economy, sometimes radically, it can result in some dangerous driving practices. Hypermilers tend to be nuisances (if not outright hazards) on the road, especially if they aren't paying attention to anything but obsessively trying to squeeze as much kilometreage as they can out of that last drop of petrol. Truck drivers are sick and tired of you four-wheelers drafting right behind them, so cut it out already.

There are much less expensive ways to improve fuel economy that don't demand any modification, nor any dangerous driving practices. Most of these are free:

* Check tire pressure regularly. It's harder to drive with limp tires than firm ones due to flatter tires contributing to more friction with the road. Also, low rolling resistance tires do cause a measurable increase in fuel efficiency; however, this comes at the cost of traction. They would be fine in a dry climate with no snow, but if you have heavy rains or serious winters, the small fuel savings are not worth sacrificing the potentially life-saving traction.
* Keep your engine "tuned" with appropriate maintenance intervals, and run the lightest oil weight your climate and engine can handle. A good synthetic will allow you to run a lighter weight oil and not blow up your motor. This can help your engine remain efficient at converting fuel to motion. This is a slight increase, but 5W-30 costs no more than 10W-30.
* Drive slowly, but keep pace with traffic. After all, there is a special place in hell for those that drive slower than the rest of the traffic in the farthest left lane in the freeway. Stay in the right-hand part of the freeway so cars won't drive around you and put them in danger. (Only applicable to Yankland and other drive-on-the right territories.) Basic physics states that it takes more energy to accelerate to a higher speed, and the power required to overcome air resistance increases as the ''cube'' of velocity.
* If you don't drive slowly, by God's love try at least driving at a constant speed. A combustion engine works most efficiently at a constant rate of revolutions. If your car has cruise control (most cars nowadays do), use it as much as possible and use it also on accelerating and decelerating the car.
* Use the pedals gently. Accelerate slowly if possible, and get out of the lower gears as soon as possible, while downshifting as little as possible. You don't need to pass everyone, and the world won't end if you lose 5MPH going up a hill or some cars pass you. Coast down and brake gently if possible (instead of keeping the throttle pressed until you're barely at the intersection).
* Do not carry excess weight in your vehicle. Basic physics also dictates that lighter objects (i.e., objects with less mass) take less energy to accelerate to the same speed. This includes the wings on your car, even if they look cool. And while you're lightening up the car, make sure you also maintain your weight.
* Buy smaller, lighter vehicles; again, lighter object, same acceleration, less energy used.
* Buy a newer model vehicle if possible, as developments in engine technology are delivering ever greater efficiency with no impact to the performance (and perhaps more importantly, safety) of the vehicle. 
* Get a manual transmission car. The manual not only gets better mileage in many cars,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071017021814/http://bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/car-guide-2007/20070801_manual_auto_a1.asp Bankrate.com: Best mileage: Automatic or manual?]</ref> but it's lighter (lower weight = better MPG) and typically has lower maintenance costs. Once you get the hang of a manual, it's a hell of a lot more fun than an automatic. In countries where automatic transmissions are normally in use, this may increase the cost of your insurance, however, as drivers inexperienced with manual transmissions are at risk of rolling backwards on hills when proceeding from a stop. While a manual transmission is more efficient in older cars, modern cars equipped with 8 and 9 speed automatics, along with {{wpl|Continuously variable transmission|continuously variable transmissions (CVT)|,}} are typically more fuel-efficient than the same car with a manual transmission. The greater number of gears (or with a CVT, the lack of gears) allows the engine to operate in the most efficient range of its {{wpl|power band}} more of the time, increasing miles per gallon and overall efficiency. That being said, manual transmissions remain significantly cheaper to service and maintain over the life of the car. They are also the best theft-deterrent security system available.    
* Once you have acquired a manual transmission car, learn to do motor braking. That is to switch to a smaller gear to slow your vehicle down instead of pressing the brake pedal. It is especially useful on curves, as it will improve your control of the car as well. (This form of downshifting is good, not bad.)
* Try avoiding pressing the brake pedal whenever possible; instead learn to predict your speed and adjust it by the gas pedal. A brake is a device which converts mechanical energy into heat (except, of course, in hybrids).
* Take off the roof rack when not needed. It improves the aerodynamics ''a lot''.
* If you're on the highway or otherwise driving at high speeds for a long distance, it's probably a good idea to keep the air conditioning on and keep the windows closed to improve aerodynamics (especially if your vehicle is aerodynamic to begin with) and therefore use less gas.<ref>Neigher, C. [https://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/driving-with-windows-down1.htm Windows down or A/C on -- which is more fuel-efficient?]. ''HowStuffWorks''. Retrieved October 28, 2017.</ref>
* In wintertime, use the electric engine block heater whenever possible. If the weather drops below zero (Celsius or Fahrenheit, does not really matter), warming up the engine may mean doubling your fuel consumption within the first fifteen minutes of your ride if the block has not been pre-heated. Note that combustion engines work really inefficiently when cold. Keep your car in a warm garage as much as possible. If you live somewhere where it doesn't freeze much, warming up your car is unnecessary and only wastes gas; don't look like an idiot in front of your neighbors.
*A note on hybrids. [[Hybrid cars]] are not bad. They do get good mileage, particularly in stop-and-go driving (where their regenerative brakes gain maximum advantage), and have been proven to be as reliable as your standard internal-combustion-only car. However, their prices are higher and it is unlikely you will make up the costs in fuel savings over the life of the car. If you want to help the environment, hybrids are a reasonable option,{{efn|Recycling of the hybrid battery when the car reaches the end of life phase can cause significant environmental damage if not done correctly.<ref>Phil Taylor, [http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lithium-ion-batteries-hybrid-electric-vehicle-recycling "When an Electric car Dies, What Will Happen to the Battery?"], ''Scientific American'', September 14, 2009)</ref>}} but if you simply want to save money, a diesel or a small, light car is a better bet. If you really want to do both, electric cars are a real option now.
*There are plans out there for a way to set up a variable resistor in series with a mass air sensor, to make your engine run much leaner when not requiring much power. This is only for the technically proficient.
*If you're moving your living quarters to another place, find a place that is close to civilization. It's far more ecological and economic when you can just walk to the grocery store than when you have to drive 10 kilometers to get to the nearest supermarket.
*The most effective thing you can do (in a car, anyway): Carpool. Having a passenger ''doubles'' your "people miles/gallon", or ''halves'' your "liters/100 km-people". Two passengers triples pm/g, and so on and so forth. 
*And the most effective way to save on gas: Don't drive. Buy a [[Bicycle|bike]], or walk. You don't need a car to go two blocks! [[Public transit]] is often cheaper and sometimes faster than driving. Outside the US, anyway, as in the US, your mileage may vary if you live in suburbs. And if you are fond of adrenaline and high speeds, there are racing games{{efn|Especially those that support more than the standard 60 fps and when you're driving an hypercar (ie, a {{wpl|Bugatti Bolide}} or a {{wpl|Rimac Nevera}})}}, roller coasters and [[high speed rail]] for that. If you ''really'' need your shot of adrenaline and need to be in control of the situation, try {{wpl|skydiving||.}}

==Tackiness in automobiles==

===Body modifications===
Ugly changes that is purely based on, and only cater to the owner's redundant aesthetics with no purpose. This includes (bumper) stickers, changed body panels, xenon headlights, excessive suspension/camber changes, and whatnot. A [[Kookmobile]] is a good example of this.

===Spoilers===
A fun questionnaire:

'''1.''' A six-foot fiberglass spoiler on the back of your car makes it:
:(a) faster
:(b) slower

Take your time.

The entire purpose of a spoiler (really a 'wing') is to use forward motion to create down force. Down force pushes the car down onto the road, thus increasing the mechanical grip of the tires. Wings also increase the car's drag, meaning more power is needed to push the car through the atmosphere. This is a good thing in many race situations, where the high-powered, lightweight cars would quite literally fly off the track due to air building up underneath them, in the absence of any countervailing force.<ref group=note>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8XxQkXCmsU Sometimes wings aren't even enough for race cars.] High-speed aerodynamic forces combined with extreme lightness can easily flip a car with an errant gust. This is also a great example of how safe modern racing cars are.</ref> However, on the road, a large spoiler is unnecessary, considering most cars cannot reach the speeds required for it to be effective, and even the few that could would be endangering their driver, the driver's license, and everyone else on the road by driving at such irresponsible and excessive speeds. Finally, since they are unnecessary in everyday use, the weight, drag, and down force that a wing adds to the car can slightly negatively impact fuel economy.

While most people call all such things spoilers, really a spoiler sits flush on the back of the car and deflects air upward, spoiling the airflow from tumbling down behind the car immediately, and creating a bit of drag force. A 'spoiler' that allows air underneath it is actually a wing, with a cross section upside-down compared to an airplane wing. Just as an airplane wing (with the trailing edge lower than the leading edge and the bottom relatively flat compared to a rounded top) creates lift when moving through the air at high speeds, an automotive wing with the trailing edge higher than the leading edge and the top relatively flat compared to a rounded bottom does the opposite, pressing down on the back of a car.

A race car wing is precisely engineered in a wind tunnel to provide an exact level of down force due to this wing profile, matching the car's specific aerodynamics and tire adhesion. A street wing is designed to look cool to those who don't know any better. If you are a professional racer, by all means, put that spoiler or wing on. It may save your life. If you're a boy racer revving your car at stoplights, save your money. This goes double if you have a front wheel drive car like a Honda Civic. In the unlikely event your aftermarket wing actually did create any down force, this would cause the front end to lift slightly and lessen the grip of the front wheels. You know, the wheels that account for your steering and about 70% of your braking power.

However, on some roads where the speed limit is "how fast you can go", wings can go a long way toward improving stability at speeds in excess of 160 km/h. An example is the original Audi TT sports car that was recalled and forced to add a rather unsightly spoiler on the back due to lack of grip at high speeds.

==Problems==

===Pollution and global warming===
[[File:Hauptstrasse 06.02.2016 14-58-56.jpg|thumb|right|Mega-bummer Hummer]]

In the wake of widespread concern over [[global warming|climate change]] and rising [[oil|gasoline]] prices, many automobile-drivers have been switching over to [[hybrid cars]] and to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. However, some drivers continue to buy and use highly inefficient SUVs, such as the iconic (and discontinued) Hummer, despite the economic and environmental problems that these vehicles pose.<ref>The Associated Press (July 9, 2008). "<span class="plainlinks">[http://web.archive.org/web/20080813232453/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/29/hummer.of.love.ap/index.html "Hummer owners still love to play dirty."]</span>"Retrieved from CNN.com. Accessed November 16, 2008.</ref> As the average size and weight of passenger vehicles increases, small vehicles of low mass become more likely to be crushed or accelerated to a fatal degree during a collision. In Australia, there is an automotive arms race of sorts, with a major insurer urging its members to buy the largest car they can afford to avoid death or serious injury — thus reducing their costs, and [[Externalities|passing death and destruction on]] to inoffensive small car drivers.   

Many products and methods exist which ostensibly improve automobile performance and gas mileage. Some of them work (e.g., smaller engines). Some of them don't (e.g., "go-faster" stripes and massive exhausts).

===Deaths===
In addition to the environmental impact of automobiles, their use also claims many lives each year, with approximately 3,000 deaths caused by automobile use in the [[UK]] each year<ref>National Statistics Online (June 26th, 2008). "<span class="plainlinks">[https://web.archive.org/web/20051128090140/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1208 Road Casualties.]</span>" Accessed July 9th 2010.</ref>, and over 30,000 per year in the United States[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year Wikipedia "Motor vehicle fatality rate in U.S. by year"] The manufacturers and motorist lobbies have managed to successfully shift at least some of the blame for these incidents onto the victims.  This has been done by the setting up of motorist-lobby funded "safety charities", such as the Road Safety Foundation in the UK, which promotes cyclists and pedestrians dressing in high-visibility clothing, in addition to helmets for cyclists. Much of this promotion is addressed directly to young children, in schools.<ref>UK Department for Transport (June 18th, 2010). "<span class="plainlinks">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070809234416/http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/teachers/lessonplans/ Education.]</span>" Accessed July 9th 2010.</ref>

The good news is, modern automobiles are considerably safer than they were half a century ago. Seat belts weren't even required on cars in the U.S. until 1968, let alone safety features like crumple zones, air bags, and antilock brakes. [[Ralph Nader]]'s 1965 book <i>Unsafe at any Speed</i> was influential in getting [[United States Congress|Congress]] to unanimously pass the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966.<ref>{{wpa|Ralph Nader}}</ref> U.S. traffic fatalities were 10.4 per 100,000 persons in 2011, as compared with the all-time high of 26.4 per 100,000 persons in 1969.<ref>{{wpa|List of motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year}}</ref>

For comparison, in 2013, the US government reported 32,719 "highway" deaths (any involving a car), 706 from railroad incidents, and 429 from air incidents.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20140115010214/http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_02_01.html_mfd</ref>

However, the same can't be said for pedestrians. Pedestrian traffic fatalities increased 53% from 2009 to 2018, as cars get heavier and larger, despite the setback of a global recession.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20200228201917/https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/GHSA-Pedestrian-Spotlight-FINAL-rev2.pdf</ref>

===Urban planning===
Historically, almost all cities were compact and had as many people in as little room as possible (that's the point of a city, after all); the car enabled the phenomenon of "[[suburban sprawl]]", with more and more suburbs (mazes of single-family houses) upon suburbs (often voting conservative, to nobody's surprise) along tax-supported interstate highways. Interestingly, several entire countries have largely embraced alternatives to cars — like the [[Netherlands]] ([[Bicycle|bikes]] and mass transit) or [[Denmark]] (bikes).

In many countries, especially in the developed world, [[World War II]] resulted in cities that were more or less ''tabula rasa'', so city planners could (re-)build "modern" automotive-centric cities. However, even the US — a country that was not bombed to any significant extent after 1865 — tore down many historic buildings to build freeways right through downtowns. The urban-planning community now almost unanimously views the effects of this negatively — and as a matter of fact, several cities have torn down urban highways, including [[San Francisco]], Seoul, Portland ([[Oregon]]), and Madrid.<ref>http://gizmodo.com/6-freeway-demolitions-that-changed-their-cities-forever-1548314937</ref> In all these cases, the cities that tore out urban freeways never looked back.

=== Over-specification ===
For some reason (which may have to do with [[marketing]]), manufacturers design and construct the average car to operate on speed-unlimited German autobahns. This means that vehicles which operate within or even between urban areas in most parts of the world end up grossly over-specced for their alleged purposes of ferrying people around other places under local conditions. The higher the design speed, the more safety measures required, and the higher the cost of each individual vehicle. Go figure.

==Car critics==

===Car-free movement===
The car-free movement is 
a bunch of [[Fun:Hippie|hippies]]
 an [[environmentalist]] socio-political movement that aims to usher in a car-free world. The rationale behind the movement is that cars are responsible for the destruction of street life, damage to the social fabric of communities, isolation of people, suburban sprawl, inconvenience to other street-users, noise [[pollution]], air pollution, [[global warming]], [[lead-crime hypothesis|a decent proportion of crime]], and waste of energy and natural resources.<ref>"[http://www.carfree.com/intro_cfc.html Carfree Cities: Introduction]." Carfree.com.</ref> Automobiles should therefore be abolished. The car-free idea is also sometimes used as a [[strawman]] position whenever someone argues that people should drive less often, or that governments should invest in infrastructure for modes of transport other than private cars, such as [[Bicycle|bikes]], cycleways, or public transport.

Activists in several cities organize local "car-free days". Many promote September 22 as "World Car-Free Day" annually.

===Car-free zones===
[[File:Turku Car-free zone.jpg|thumb|right|Car-free zone in Turku, [[Finland]]]]
In some places, cars are outright banned. In some cases, this can be for public safety (keeping cars away from busy streets packed with people), and other times it is to cut down on noise, [[pollution]] levels, and traffic in inner city areas. This is sometimes enforced in cities and towns with ancient architecture, where car-based pollution has been blamed for accelerated erosion of historical ruins.<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20090804063947/http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/stories/s1064569.htm</ref> Islands such as Sark and cities like Venice don't have cars for obvious practical reasons, such as the lack of roads.

==Vehicular politics==
Alternatives to car use are often treated with high degrees of suspicion among [[conservatives]], as are higher gas [[tax]]es.

Investments in infrastructure used to be common sense in the [[US]] (after all, the interstate highway system was promoted by [[Eisenhower]] and [[Amtrak]] was created under [[Nixon]]). However, federal dollars spent on anything that is not cars (like public transit or, god forbid, [[high speed rail|rail]]) are heavily criticized (including being labelled as "[[Red-baiting|socialism]]") by the likes of the [[Reason (magazine)|Reason Foundation]], the [[Cato Institute]], and [[Fox News]]. All this baseless conservative backlash<ref group=note>Though, really, is there ''any'' form of "[[Moral panic|conservative backlash]]" that ''isn't'' comically ill-informed?</ref> against alternatives to cars sometimes forces transit advocates to get creative. For example, in 2013, transit and environmental activists managed to get a bill allowing local governments to spend gas tax revenue on car alternatives passed by framing it as an issue of local control,<ref name="colorado-victory">Angie Schmitt, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140720143132/http://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/04/25/in-colorado-a-big-legal-victory-for-active-transportation-funding/ In Colorado, a Big Legal Victory for Active Transportation Funding], ''Streetsblog USA'', April 25, 2013</ref> a favorite talking point amongst conservatives. Previous attempts at similar bills had proved "extremely controversial".<ref name="colorado-victory"/>

Anti-gun control talking points often [[false analogy|invoke]] cars. As in, the tired argument that "Cars kill more people but no one is advocating a ban on cars".<ref group=note>As we just established, yes, there ''are'' people trying to ban cars, so this argument isn't even accurate.</ref> At the same time, some advocate a ban on both.

===Cars and terrorism===
Car bombs (the "poor man's air force") have been used as a weapon of [[terrorism]] since at least the 1920s, most notably by the [[IRA]], ETA, [[Palestine|Palestinian]] freedom fighters, various [[Islamist]] terror groups, the [[CIA]],<ref>Mike Davis, ''Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb'' (Verso: New York, 2007)</ref> [[Mossad]], [[Augusto Pinochet]]'s military dictatorship, [[Timothy McVeigh]], and the [[Ukraine]]. During the mid-2010s, however, the tactic of deliberately ramming a vehicle into a crowd of people became something of a fad among terrorists (being easier than carrying out 
[[homicide bombing]]s
 [[suicide bombing]]s). The 2016 Nice attack, the 2017 London Bridge attack, the 2017 Barcelona attacks, and the [[Unite the Right|Charlottesville attack]] during the Unite the Right rally are some of the most prominent vehicle-ramming attacks.

Promoters of vehicular terrorism include [[Al-Qaeda]], [[DAESH|ISIS]],<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/isis-al-qaeda-car-truck-attacks-new-york-2017-11 ISIS and Al Qaeda have specifically called for the type of attack that just happened in New York City]</ref> and [[Fox News]].<ref>[https://mashable.com/2017/08/15/fox-news-daily-caller-video-drivers-protesters-charlottesville/ Fox News quietly removes 'useful' compilation video of cars 'plowing through protesters' after 6 months]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Global warming]]
*[[Kookmobile]]
*''[[Top Gear]]''
*[[Self-driving cars]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Transport]]
[[Category:Global warming]]
[[Category:Automotive woo| ]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]

Categories: Transport, Global warming, Automotive woo, Environmentalism