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DrG's Medisense Feature Article
18121-Present_to_Myself
A
Car-less Present to Myself
by Ann Gerhardt, MD
December 2018
Print Version
How many of us can refrain from buying just a little something for
ourselves while in the holiday shopping bustle? Previously,
not me. This year is different, though. No
doo-dads, just gifting myself the divestment of a few stressful things.
Among
other castaways was my car, made easier by the wreck that demanded a
decision about the fate of my Honda Fit’s poor mangled body.
Now car-less, I’m liberated from traffic and am feeling
challenged in a fun way.
Why
I hate cars. 1) Sitting in a car isn’t healthy.
Adults model for children lousy, driving-heavy activity patterns,
instead of navigating the blocks to school, work or a bus stop under
their own power. Many think it’s weird to walk
anywhere if a car is available. That car ride supplants an opportunity
for healthful physical activity - Exercise that doesn’t
involve the cost, intimidation and smell of a gym.
Cars
are destructive.
Their drivers kill people by not seeing, not obeying traffic laws, and
self-centeredly and obliviously driving unsafely.
More than 90 people die in the U.S. each day from motor vehicle
crashes. The 2017 death toll exceeded 40,000. If a
virus caused that death rate, the population would be enraged, engaged
and terrified. Instead people blithely consider their cars to
be a necessary appliance serving a critical function... like a toilet.
Cars
pollute and generate greenhouse gases.
The atmospheric CO2 level passed 400 ppm in September 2016.
That was the point of no return. Global warming is now
unstoppable, unless some super-brilliant people figure out effective
ways to remove CO2 from the air. Maybe they’ll
devise a way to turn the carbon into diamonds.
My small contribution to CO2 reduction won’t keep islands
from being submerged, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods from killing
people, or displaced persons from dying of starvation and infectious
disease. That would take a societal commitment to renewable
& human energy. Well, I’m part of society
and I’m making a commitment. The
only thing I liked about
having a car was its utility
as a bumper sticker display. I’ve considered
plastering them on a rain slicker, creating a moving, meme-filled
billboard.
Planning
my transportation mode for a day’s activities takes the form
of a fun puzzle.
Not a hard puzzle, though, since living in Midtown Sacramento and
working within 2 miles of my home make car-less life much easier than
it might be for others. Here, readily available alternatives include
walking, taking public transportation, riding my bicycle or renting a
Jump bike. I doubt that I’ll mimic those
third world pictures of a man toting a refrigerator on his bike, but
I’ve carried a lot of stuff onto a bus and use full grocery
bags as weight lifting exercise while walking home from the
store.
Sure, I drive sometimes... I have access to our now lone
family car, Lyft drivers, friends and Zipcar’s hourly
rentals. I avoid them, however, unless I need to carry
something large or heavy, will travel a long way, or stay out past the
last bus.
This works for me because my sports injuries haven’t yet
disabled me, and I live and work in a densely populated area.
It’s
sad that more people don’t have the transportation options of
Midtown and dense population centers, but it’s the
communities’ fault.
They have fought smart land use. They want tax revenue and
large yards. Sprawl makes it impossible for public
transportation to provide frequent, cost-effective service to
all. And Jump bikes and Zipcars aren’t going to
appear in neighborhoods with 150 people per square mile.
Able-bodied
adults and children can walk, cycle and take public transportation
– They just need to think about making it possible.
People of limited means could spend more on healthy food and bicycles
if they didn’t waste money on a car. Most aged
people shouldn’t be living in the middle of nowhere, where
they drive everywhere, endangering everyone with their declining
vision, hearing, reaction time and flexibility. Does anyone
need to live in the middle of nowhere if their livelihood
doesn’t depend on it? Dense population centers
enable effective public and private transportation options that allow
us to be healthier, kill fewer people and be more kind to the planet.