whighlander
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2006
- Messages
- 7,812
- Reaction score
- 647
They actually prefer to? Or have they been manipulated by a century of automobile related subsidies and bailouts, coupled with an onslaught of regulations and subsidies for living in areas which require a car, in additional to absurd marketing tactics? The marketing I can deal with, but when added onto everything else government has done to promote the car, it's insane.
Urb -- you need to read a bit of history of transportation and its impact on civilization
Just a couple of tidbits:
our rail guage today is based on the ruts in the roads the Roman's built in Britain 2000 years ago. The ruts were made by the wheels of the trucks of the day -- Ox carts
In the 19th Century Trains replaced Ox carts as steam freed us for the first time from a dependency on human and animal power. In the 20th Century trucks powerd by the internal combustion engine have to a great extent replaced trains as the way to move goods more flexibly over land using roads as compared to being confined to rails.
A similar sequence of tranformation has occured with respect to moving people over land.
1) Walk
2) Ride horse -- faster
3) Rde in vehickle pulled by horse -- more confortable
4) Ride in vehicle pulled by steam -- faster, safer, more confortable
5) Ride in vehicle powered by IC engine -- faster, more flexible and versatile -- e.g. more convenient
Is there a further evolutionary step to personal vehicles powered by electricity -- so far we really don't know