Kill the Car

What's this about prefacing or adding disclaimers? We're all grown-up's here. We can tell the difference between humour and a call to arms. So, I say we let adults be adults and decide for themselves.

The video doesn't really promote violence against people or property. It says 'kill the car,' a rather ambiguous and indistinct suggestion. Sure, it mentions ideas like sugar in the gas tank and car bombs, but the narrator only says 'maybe' they could be considered. It's pretty clear he's not serious. Killing the car can be achieved by abandoning it, after all or enacting laws that make it prohibitive to use the car as recklessly and recreationally as most folks currently do. 'Kill the Car' is really such a vague statement that it can be interpreted many different ways.

Either way, I really hope irresponsible use of the car dies, not the car itself...at least not the 'green' ones anyway.

Aidan, I share most of your sentiments. I agree whole-heartedly with your concerns about the destruction, devastation and harm private cars inflict on cities. I am a loud and vocal advocate for fewer cars, believe me. Every effort to drastically reduce the number of cars on our roads---even radical ideas---is usually soundly endorsed by me. But, we still need to be realistic.

Those of us who live downtown are sometimes ignorant of the conditions in North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough where one must walk a long way before they find a bus, where buses are crowded and slow and where it can take an unusually long time getting around by public transportation. I know, I've lived at Don Mills & Steeles, Don Mills & Sheppard (long before the new subway line), Finch & Vic Park and Yonge & Steeles, among other areas up there. I still rode my bike primarily, but it was a treacherous undertaking sharing the road with cars travelling at 80+ km/h on 6 lane arterial roads. It's not like downtown where roads are narrower, traffic is usually slower and there's a streetcar, bus or subway within a five minute walk. Up there and out there, cars are practical. I hate it that they are, but that's the reality. There simply is no reasonable substitution.

If I could change it, I would. I'd reduce the number of lanes, install huge bike lanes on every road and along rail corridors, reduce the speed limit of arterial roads and tax car-owners at every opportunity. Ten bucks an hour to park at meters, Fifty bucks a day to park at any downtown parking lot---not including the regular fees, gas taxes, congestion taxes and everything else. But I'd also have to concede that they need a reasonable alternative: many more buses, subway or LRT routes, expansive bike facilities, etc. Since we aren't giving them that, what choice do many of those people have?

As for my bourgeois neighbours making de facto social and environmental policy for others, of course I don't think they should, but if they work hard and earn enough to buy property elsewhere, well, that's the privelege of a capitalist society, isn't it. Who am I to deny anyone the luxuries they can afford.

The difference is when their luxuries negatively impact everyone else. If my bourgeois neighbours use their cars to zip out to the corner store or the grocery store for a bag of milk and a loaf of bread or to hop along Bloor St. or St. Clair or College St. on their little errands, then they are behaving irresponsibly, inconsiderately and reprehensibly. They are not using their car in a socially responsible way, in my opinion, in spite of the car culture that has been ingrained in them. It's true that I never see some of my neighbours walk or bike anywhere and always use their cars. I condemn them for that. I don't condemn them for using their car when they are hauling a lot of groceries or transporting more than one person with gear, groceries or other sundry items. It's simply impractical for them to walk, particularly if they are aged or physically challenged, and carry heavy loads as many of my neighbours are.

That is why I said and reassert that effective, responsible and socially considerate use of the car must be promoted, that the car be regarded as only ONE option, not the only ONE option. Should they use hybrids or fully electric vehicles when they need a vehicle? Absolutely. Should they use our public transit system, their feet and their legs more often? Absolutely. But should they have the choice of using a car---when it is the best choice for certain trips? Absolutely.