Ban Personal Cars Save The Environment: Love with Cars Killing Cities

It is easy for me to say this as I do not have a personal car.

Standing at a traffic light stoppage, I looked around and found five cars Infront of me in which only one person was sitting.

Two of these five cars were big enough to seat 7 people.

While observing them, it is the thought that came to my mind that can things become easy and smoother if we impose a complete ban on the usage of cars for personal use.

Well, this is an impossible thing to even think, and it is a crime to talk about it or to implement it.

Counting Cars with Single Occupancy

A few days back, I came to the phase six bus stand in Mohali to drop off a friend of mine. He was to catch a bus for Anandpur Sahib.

Standing right in front of the Verka plant at around 6 in the evening, nearly half an hour passed and no bus was coming.

Actually this is the peak rush hour, as we call it, when so many people are coming out and rushing from their work/office to their home.

There was a long traffic jam and the movement was almost negligible.

Me and my friend were getting tired, standing there for more than 40 minutes now, with our eyes looking far from where the bus would come.

Then, I noticed something, even though it was a drill to pass our time, yet, it uncovered an interesting fact about our society.

I decided to count the cars which are moving with only one person inside.

To our surprise, nearly 7 out of 10 cars had only one person sitting inside.

adding on this fact, nearly 40% of these cars were big enough to seat 5 people.

So the reason for the traffic jam is right before us. Had these people decided to move on a two-wheeler or through public transport, then this traffic jam would not be seen.

Less or no traffic jams means less pollution and we will be saving the environment ultimately.

My Stupid Thinking

How can this be possible on earth? And not at all in a country like India.

In our beloved country India, the ego of my beloved brothers and sisters Indians is larger than that of their CREATOR.

It is no surprise that big and high cars are so successful in India, even though they are less efficient utility-wise.

Big and high cars boost the ego of us Indians and we are ready to waste minutes and hours in a traffic jam sitting in that big, high and long car of ours.

Say suppose the impossible does happen, and the government bans personal usage of cars. It will mean fewer cars will be sold, which means less profit for car-making companies, and this in turn means less tax for the government.

So this is something that can never ever happen even though the government knows that this is the solution.

I do not want to get into the stats of how much tax does the government levy on the sale of these cars.

I have a rough idea though from a conversation with a friend of mine who runs a car showroom.

On a rough estimate, in an 18 Lakh INR car, nearly 3 - 4 lakhs go directly into the government pocket in the form of tax. This does not include road tax which is applicable to the showroom price of the vehicle.

So why would the government want to discourage the personal use of cars and reduce its income?

No Single Solution to the Problem

The network that is in operation between car users, government and car manufacturers, is difficult to pass by or correct.

We are so used to moving in our personal vehicle and the fact that public transport is not reliable and timely, so it is impossible to imagine part away from personal vehicle usage.

The thing is I am not opposed to people using personal cars for daily use. What irks me is the single occupancy of the vehicle.

I am sure nearly 30% of the people in the above-stated example can move on a motorcycle or a bicycle, but just because they are in a high-paying profession, it is kind of a social stigma attached that they had to have a car for their personal movement.

It is because there is a scripture which says that a respected job means a four-tre vehicle.

A Simple Fix for Parking Problem

There is a large gentry that moves to the office from home in a car and spends the entire day in the office. Their car keeps standing there waiting for them.

This gentry does not require the vehicle for the entire day except to take them to and from the office.

I can say this because I have observed this.

At least this gentry can contribute to saving the environment by choosing to pick a two-wheeler to move to and fro from office and work.

Alright, I understand that they are high profile managers and they need to keep their image, but ultimately, people and even their juniors will appreciate the fact that they are thoughtful and active towards our planet Earth.

Yes, you are providing a good future to your family by working unlimited hours and fulfilling their needs more than they asked for, yet, this can be another sacrifice which will be appreciated by them.

Above all, the parking lot at all the places will be much roomier and those who really need to park in a hurry such as an ambulance will not have to waste time blaring sirens all the way.

Imagining and Expecting the Unimaginable

I am sure I am asking way too much from our society. I, given a chance and having the financial capacity would want to move in a car all throughout the day. So, since no one is ready to sacrifice, we are taking ourselves to extinction.