[The_Toecutter]

I do not agree with everything the linked article states. I'm especially not fond of poll taxes or black boxes or reduced speed limits, and I wholly disagree with their notion that motorsports are wasteful, but it had a lot I agreed with such as redesigning our cities to be built around people instead of cars, and skimmed over the costs associated with automobile use and some of the negative impacts it has on society. This article does not mention peak oil, on the otherhand, and that will probably reduce or end car use altogther with no intervention on anyone's part.

One of these days, we might actually start to design cities for people rather than cars. The turning point will probably come when municipalities and developers take a hard look at the way parking spots are mandated, priced and sold. At present, commercial and residential developers are usually required to provide a certain number of parking spaces for each unit. The cost, which can easily reach $35,000 per space in larger cities, is then incorporated into the selling price or rent. If this requirement were relaxed and the parking spaces were sold or rented separately from the unit, many buyers or tenants might decide they would sooner rely on public transit, carsharing and/or carpooling.

More...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050714.wcomment0715/BNStory/National/

[linlithgowoil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') wholly disagree with their notion that motorsports are wasteful,

[Pablo2079]

Motorsports have been test beds for safety and fuel economy.

[The_Toecutter]

Motorsports are a form of entertainment that cannot be substituted with items other than automobiles by their very definition. And you've probably never raced before. There is plenty of physical exertion, especially if you lack power steering or ABS. Try racing down a canyon road in a heavy Camaro at double the speed limit, without shunting. You wouldn't last 5 minutes before exhaustion. Replace that Camaro with a light weight Lotus Elise, and you'll last a lot longer, but still fatigue in less than an hour.

One could say using a computer, reading a book, or relaxing is all wasteful because it would be a waste of time and does absolutely nothing productive for society and merely entertains the individual. Motorsports use a very small, inconsequential portion of the oil consumed in automobiles, while transportation uses by far the most. With proper mass transit in place and increased substitution of bicycles for cars, along with changing the cars that will still exist to electric or another fuel, a very noticable impact could be made on oil consumption. Motorsports? You'd be hard pressed to save anything of statistical significance. I say let the racers and offroaders have their fun. We shouldn't be using cars for the bulk of our transportation, but instead use them for recreational purposes(A very small percentage of total car use, I might add.). Only a small portion of the population would care to participate in these liesure activities anyway. How many with cars today race, how many with SUVs actually offroad, and how many people actually go on long-distance tours with thier cars at a liesure pace with no concrete destination in mind, and not simply a vacation or trip? Even cutting the numbers of cars produced, the middle class could still afford to participate for those that wanted.

There are ways to use cars that are extremely wasteful, there are ways to use cars that are still wasteful but to such an insignificant amount that will have no meaningful effect on energy supplies, or cars can be eliminated altogether with draconian measures and no regard to the constitution. Take your pick.


Using cars for transportation is like using an assault rifle to hunt rabbit. Are you going to ban the hobbyists from possessing these guns and firing them at shooting ranges for liesure simply because others might grossly misuse the assault rifles? Both are wasteful, but one clearly has a meaningful purpose, while the other is just plain stupid.