The car industry was born in the United States, and it has developed in the United States unlike anywhere else in the world. Today, there are approximately 253 million cars in the United States—a country with a population of just under 319 million individuals (Caudill, 2015). This demonstrates the magnitude of the American dependence on cars, a dependence that does not seem likely to change any time soon, although the American people are striving to end their reliance on foreign fossil fuels. If the car was banned tomorrow in America, there would undoubtedly be chaos throughout the country as people struggle to find the appropriate transportation to get to work, school, and all the other places that they need to go.
If the United States banned cars tomorrow, there would undoubtedly be a period where everything was a disaster. There would be problems for people who commute to work, and people who had driven somewhere for a vacation or a visit would undoubtedly find themselves stuck at their location, unable to return; people who took their cars deep into the desert, mountains or forest would also be experiencing problems, because they could not get out of these places without their automobiles. However, over time, the social impact of the lack of automobiles would fundamentally change the fabric of American society, as well (Caudill, 2015).
Americans use their cars as social tools. Because the United States lacks good public transportation, the car is utilized by many people on an everyday basis (Litman, 1999). Socially, Americans would be unable to interact with people as easily as they do today without the same access to cars; until other infrastructure was built to support travel, Americans would be a much more isolated people if cars were banned in the United States (Litman, 2010).
Over time, however, the immediate impact of having the car banned from society would change the way American society functions (Litman & Laube, 2002). Right now, Americans have a heavy dependency on the automobile, but that cultural dependency only exists because Americans are allowed to have cars and are allowed to utilize them as much as they want to; if these cars were banned, Americans would have to find new methods of transportation, along with assistance from the government and new planning organizations (Schmitt, 2015).
It should be noted that if the car was banned in America, that would make people more likely to walk or bike to the places that they need to go—this would mean that there would likely be an increase in overall fitness level in the United States, which could only be a positive thing for the people of the United States that suffer from various obesity-related illnesses.
This would almost certainly be one of the positive cultural impacts of the lack of cars in society, but the potential disasters that could occur from suddenly banning cars could easily outweigh these benefits. Without cars, there would be less ability for Americans to travel; it is likely that most Americans would be unable to travel at all, because car trips are involved in a lot of American travel (Caudill, 2015).
In the long term, it is likely that America would see the dissipation of the suburbs, and an overall return to the city center and urban planning in a way that has not been seen since the early 1900s (Caudill, 2015). Without cars to help on long commutes, people would be unable to reach their jobs in the cities; they would have to either move into the cities or the workforce as a whole would have to make working from home a much more acceptable and normal thing to do (Brody et al., 2006). However, individuals who work in customer service and retail would still have to go to their jobs, so it is likely that America would experience a shift in living arrangements for many urban centers and suburban sprawls (Brody et al., 2006).
Banning the automobile would be a disaster for the economy in the United States as a whole. The automobile industry would collapse, of course, but all the associated industries would likely collapse as well—the oil and gas industry, for instance, makes up a large part of the American economy, and it relies on America’s love of cars and car travel to support itself (Schmitt, 2015).
The overall economy would obviously be affected by the downturn in both these economies, but the steel industry would also be affected, as would every other industry—most people use their cars to get to work, and until alternate forms of transportation were made available, they would have no way to get to work if they lived very far away (Schmitt, 2015).
This is important, because the economic impacts of banning cars would be much more far-reaching than just the automobile industry—it would affect every industry in the United States. It would then also cost the U.S. government a lot of money, because the government would then have to provide some kind of workable transportation solutions to people who need to be able to get to work, school, and other places.
Americans would have to change their lives completely to cut out cars. Without cars, Americans would no longer be able to go on car trips, and they would be unable to get to work in the same way that they are used to. Without cars, many Americans would not even be able to participate in recreation like they are used to—banning cars would undoubtedly mean the end of NASCAR and other car racing events in the United States of America.
It is likely that making these adjustments would be very difficult for Americans—perhaps even impossible. It is likely that Americans would see banning cars as a restriction on their freedoms, and they are likely to respond less than favorably to the idea. If the government tried to ban cars, it would have to have a perfect plan already in place to show to Americans, or it is likely that Americans would react angrily to the news of the ban. If infrastructure was created, then Americans might be able to slowly transition to a car-less society, but again, it seems likely that they would be extremely unhappy about the prospect of it.
I would have to give up my car and my commute if cars were banned. I like going on road trips, so I would have to give that up too—I feel as though road trips are an important part of traveling and knowing America as a country, and I would be sad to give up the opportunity to do those road trips. Traveling by train certainly isn’t the same as traveling by car. I could make these adjustments, but I wouldn’t want to.
Without cars, America is likely to be a much fitter society. It is likely that Americans would have to walk or bike more without cars. However, America would lose the wide-open feel that it has today—there would be no more road trips for anyone. No one would be able to travel on the Pacific Coast Highway from San Diego to San Francisco, and no one would be able to take historic Route 66. These are all significant cultural losses that the United States would experience if cars were banned from the US tomorrow.
References
Brody, S. D., Carrasco, V., & Highfield, W. E. (2006). Measuring the adoption of local sprawl reduction planning policies in Florida. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 25(3), 294-310.
Caudill, Herb. 'Cutting Dependence On Cars Isn't Anti-Car, It's Common Sense'. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 July 2015.
Litman, T. (2010). Are Vehicle Travel Reduction Targets Justified? Evaluating Mobility. In Management Policy Objectives Such As Targets To Reduce VMT And Increase Use Of Alternative Modes, VTPI (www. vtpi. org); at www. vtpi. org/vmt_red. pdf.
Litman, T., & Laube, F. (2002). Automobile dependency and economic development. Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Canada.
Litman, T. (1999). The costs of automobile dependency. Victoria Transportation Policy Institute.
Schmitt, A. (2015). Trapped By Car Dependence: Stories From Commute-Battered Americans. Retrieved 12 July 2015, from http://usa.streetsblog.org/2011/10/31/trapped-by-car-dependence-stories-from-commute-battered-americans/
