Carl, polution and the hassle of driving are only two of the 10 reasons why I passionately hate cars.
Here is the list of all 10 reasons:
1. Alienation - i hate sitting in a tin box, separated from other people and not being able to explore natural environment around me (at least not easily)
2. Destruction of animal life - seeing the road kill is nauseating - sometimes i think that vehicular slaughter of wild-life is a preferred form that Homo Americanus Suburbanus manifests his machismo and sexual prowess.
3. Regressive nature of its cost - it is fucking expensive to drive, and proportionally more so, the less money you earn. The average cost of maintaining a budget vehicle (such as Saturn) is about $4.5 thousand a year (including insurance, maintenance and amortization) - not counting traffoc ticket, accidents, theft or vandalism. If you add those - you will realize that the car is a marvelous tool - for plucking the working class and transfer of wealth from working class to auto manufacturers, insurance companies, oil companies, shop owners, police departments etc.
4. Deprivation of fundamental legal rights - having a car in the US is tantamount to giving up most fundamental civil rights, especially the right to a jury trail, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to a due process (cops can legally confiscate your car whenever they feel like doing so, simply by planting a small amount of cocaine in your trunk - they do not even need a warrant or a court order for that, let alone a guilty verdict). It also means that domestic travel is defined as a privilege subject to government permission - just as it was in x-USSR and other totalitarian countries.
5. Waste of time - you cannot do anything else while (like reading or writing or simply relaxing) you are driving. Assuming an average commute, that is about 2 completely wasted hours each day added to 8 hours of work.
6. "Fair weather" means of transportation - if there is a slightest problem, a minor accident, road work, rain, snow, etc. - the car based "trasportation" start breaking down and comes to a complete halt when problems intensify. Of course, it is "commuters" i.e. working class people, not car manufacturers, employers or government officials who bear the full cost of that breakdown (lost time, frustration, etc.).
7. Increased proability of property loss, injury or death - because car-based transportation system by it snature depends on hundreds of critical decisions made by thousands of individuals, the probablity of something going wrong or someone making a mistake is much higher than in other forms of transportation; that means increwased risk of sustaing property damage, injury or death.
8. Cars are one of the most fetishized form of commodity epitomizing anything from social status, to power, to sexual prowess, to being hip and to personal independence. Most car commercials really suck - they are obnoxious, schmaltzy, or sexist.
9. Car are the main factor that facilitate suburban sprawl - which means more environmental destruction, debt slavery, small town mentality, conservatism and bigotry
10. Cars are the main factor behind the demise of rail-based transportation - perhaps the most civilised form of transportation ever invented.
In short, cars suck and SUVs suck the most - I wonder if they sell SUV-seeking missiles at gun shows.
wojtek