Door to Door
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease and respiratory illness. Elevated blood pressure and stress. Loss of short term memory. Obesity. Increased risk of accidental death. This list reads like the fine print on a pharmaceutical ad. If an activity is known to cause these serious side effects, we typically do something about it. Even low-probability threats like bird flu and mad cow disease regularly send this country into panic mode. Yet because the car is responsible for the above list of conditions you wouldn’t even wish on an enemy, we look the other way. Not only do we care little for the public health risks of the car, we willingly shorten our own lives holding on to the illusion of mobility and prosperity offered by the car. According to David Rizzo, author of a book on traffic in Southern California, "It's a lifestyle choice. We put our health second. To have a big house, we're willing to put up with smog and a big drive. We sacrifice our longevity for short-term gains."
Never ending sprawl and the resulting degradation of the environment are well-known derivatives of our car culture, but the conversion of our once physically robust way of life into one characterized by convenience and inactivity may be the lasting legacy of the car’s dominance. The car has permanently altered what we expect from the human body, and those expectations continue to shrink with each generation. The acceptable distance for performing chores and errands on foot is now only a few blocks. Generations of children grew up walking to school and exploring their surroundings on foot or bike, but are now driven everywhere and tethered to their homes or parents when not in school.
There is mounting evidence that our car dependence also affects our happiness and ability to maintain community bonds. Studies confirm that people require a premium in salary to accept a longer commute, with the increase in pay used to offset the decline in quality of life. Recent research also suggests that individuals with longer commutes have less time to take active roles within their communities and other social networks.
We face few health threats that touch as many lives or that diminish our well-being in as many different ways as the car. Yet our government, which is often ridiculed for ignoring or responding too late to public health risks, has actually enabled the car’s assault on our collective health with little public scorn or outcry. The nascent legislative activity that we are now witnessing to address the car’s impact has its origins in concern for the environment, not public health, and will therefore address only part of the car’s damage. When people are free to drive whenever and wherever they please with negligible emissions, the government will walk away satisfied. For an increasingly complacent and sedentary society, this will prove to be a hollow victory. And since we never step outside anyway, we probably won't realize we have something to celebrate.