The influence of the car

The Car

Its Influence on Contemporary Society and Culture

INTRODUCTION

Even though it is now a normal aspect of everyday life and a necessity of the modern society in which we live as no person can handle his daily needs and movements without it, the automobile is relatively a new means of transportation on an individual scale.

The car was not created, or invented, by a single person or in a specific date, in fact, it is the result of a long and painstaking process of innovation, genuine thought, work, and invention that needed the participation of minds from all fields starting with Leonardo da Vinci in the 15^th century passing through many steps that continued on adding new ideas, better technologies, and more robust features to the machine that would turn to invade every road and to be owned by every person in today’s world.

According to MSN Encarta (2005), the first self-propelled vehicle was created by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot: “Steam power was the most promising but it was not until the end of the 18th century that any degree of success was achieved. The oldest surviving self-propelled vehicle, a three-wheeled artillery tractor built by the French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1770, was interesting but of limited usefulness. This was followed by even less practical vehicles from French, American, and British engineers, including William Murdoch, James Watt, and William Symington”

Following Cugnot, many other inventors worked on improving the various concepts and mechanisms of the vehicle; from those we can mention Oliver Evans, Richard Trevithick, Charles Deitz, Amedee Bollee Sr., J. W. Carhart and others. Then the vehicles with electrical engines appeared as the first was presented by Robert Anderson in the 19th century. This kind was very heavy and its costs were high; that is the reason why other alternatives were needed.

In the same time, other inventors were working on improving the vehicles that used internal combustion engines; which are those that are in use today with many enhancements in what concerns the technological level and the engine and body designs.

THE ECONOMIC VIEW

With the great advancements in a variety of physical and engineering related sciences, the concept of the automobile passed from a heavy, expensive and difficult-to-handle machine into the alternative to all methods of transportation of the past. Inventors, scientists, and corporations worked (and are still working) to provide a lighter, yet safer, vehicle that is easy to handle and control, and that can be affordable to the largest section of the societies of almost all countries.

The car industry became one of the major branches of the national economy in many developed and developing countries. The need to improve the streets and the land transportation networks turned the car (and all the vehicles following the same functionality characteristics) into a corner stone for economic, social and business development all around the world. “The motor industry is the world’s largest manufacturing industry with a turnover of US$1,510 billion, in 2003. Its impact on jobs, investment, foreign trade, and the environment means that it is of major economic, political, and social importance. In Western Europe the motor industry accounts for 10 per cent of manufacturing output and directly and indirectly employs 9 million people... In Britain there is a microcosm of the modern motor industry. Most of the vehicle firms are foreign-owned, as are many of the component firms. It is a motor industry in Britain, rather than a British motor industry. This illustrates the international nature of this most global of industries” (MSN Encarta 2005). The car opened new markets, created more jobs, and helped to improve the living standards of everyone, both directly and indirectly. It is not a surprise to encounter certain criteria that measure the development of countries depending on the paved roads networks connecting every part within a country’s border with all the others. This is now as important as providing electricity, water, and telephone services to almost all inhabited centres everywhere.

With all this, the number of people capable of purchasing a car or more (and those willing to spend the required amount for that purchase) increased notably within the last few decades: “In 1999 the Western European car market reached a record level of 15.1 million units, and in 2003 it was still huge at 14.3 million. In contrast, the North American market in 2003 was 16 million cars and domestic-use “trucks”, and the Japanese 4.6 million… In 2003 world vehicle sales reached 56.5 million units, of which sales in the three largest markets, the North American Free Trade Area (the United States, Canada, and Mexico), Western Europe, and Japan accounted for 19.1 million, 16.3 million, and 5.8 million units respectively” (MSN Encarta 2005). Other countries, such as those of South East Asia (including China) joined the motor industry world; and this led to a greater fall in the prices of utility cars almost everywhere. This was another factor attributing to the increasing number of cars owners.

THE CAR TODAY

When the production of the first cars started, only a specific class of society was able to obtain it, as it was considered to be a very expensive ‘luxury’ at the time, but with the substantial drop of prices that was accompanied by a notable growth in economy and individual incomes, this seemed to change; and thus other factors came into being.

Robinson (2005) explains the importance that cars took by the 1920s in America; he states that “it was more common for families to have an automobile than indoor plumbing. Farmers were set free from the constraints of rural isolation and prospered from expanded markets. Factory workers enjoyed a new phenomenon, the family vacation, and embarked on weeklong safaris into the countryside that sparked an explosion in tourism-related industries... The American landscape, in many places unchanged for a century, was transformed in the blink of an eye [because of the cars and the paved roads that needed to be prepared for them].”

The automobile, as mentioned earlier, became an important part of nearly everyday life for everyone throughout the world, and, such as any other factor related to society, the car started to reflect society itself in virtually all aspects. The car, throughout the years, turned into a mirror of social, economic, and work-status of the person who owns and drives it.

Beside its main function as a means of transportation, the car is now a part of the social structure that relates to the people and the way they want (or can) present themselves. According to other writers and historians, the car even represents the changes that humanity lives today thanks to the advancements of technology and industry: “The automobile has come to symbolize the essence of a modern industrial society. Perhaps more than any other icon, it is associated with a desire for independence and freedom of movement; it is an expression of economic status and personal style” (United States Congress - Office of Technology Assessment 1995).

Some authors go beyond such indications linking the automobile to social values. The car became an essential part in novels, songs, movies, and art. “The automobile industry altered the socioeconomic milieu of the time... [and that it] influenced the economic and social lives of urban, suburban, and rural Americans” (noting that the same applies to all other nations). The car, according to certain authors and researchers, influenced “the cultural mainstream [such as] art, music, film, literature, and poetry. In addition, such social concerns as sex, the status of women and teenagers, and the symbolic dimensions of the automobile” are presented (Berger 2001).

Berger also states that many modifications in the individual’s lifestyle came as a result of the car: “The automobile has changed the lifestyle of the avarage American more than any other 20th-century technological innovations with the possible exception of television.” The author states that interpersonal relations were completely modified because of the elements that were added by the car, and many aspects of lifestyle related issues were also changed to the better, in most cases, by the car.

Certain added features came with the car in what concerns safety and individual security, such as the traffic laws and regulations, the alertness that pedestrians should have while walking and/or crossing the streets (as this did not exist for past generations), and the new mind related information that should be obtained by anyone who needs to find his/her way within his/her city or town, as specific mental mapping characteristics should be utilised to reach the desired destination.

The car itself became a necessity of life; while he explains different elements concerning the actual cultural value in America, Robinson (2005) states that “from the perspective of the twenty-first century, it is hard to imagine an America without automobile, let alone a time when it was such a wonder that it received top billing over the fat lady and the albino at the Barnum and Bailyey Circus. Likewaise, with a highway system that allows motorists to traverse the continent in a cocoon of climate-controlled comfort, it is difficult to imagine an era when coast-to-coast drive was worthy of headlines throughout the world.”

Another important factor that should be mentioned is that related to tourism. The automobile made it easier for people to travel (whether within their own country or abroad) and to visit new places, and thus obtain new information about different locations and about different peoples. This, in addition to the information and telecommunications revolution of today, created a new reality that was not to arise if it was not for a set of factors which include the car.

THE NEGATIVE SIDE

While studying the various effects of automobiles, it should be stated that some of those effects were not always accepted by researchers and writers as positive. In this case, we find that cars, in their present form, are responsible for many problems and difficulties that did not exist prior to their production and mass use.

One of the first problems that appeared was the one which concerned parking. Wollen and Kerr (2002) state that “in 1916, an editorial in Automobile magazine noted that the ‘parking problem’ was becoming more and more acute with the growth of automobile traffic. Not only did city governments face something which was never foreseen in the planning of our town, a thing which has come upon us so swiftly... but their preferred policy of raising taxes to build new roads, together with creating more parking facilities and introducing new regulations, simply discriminated against the poor.” The authors explain that the result of the attempts to solve the various problems created by the increasing number of cars caused more problems such as reducing the play areas of youngsters, narrowing the sidewalks to widen streets, and much more.

The first one of the serious problems was car accidents as they were a new concept related to the driving experience. The speed that the modern car can reach and the strength it has can lead to unexpected results. According to Shein (1988) “car accidents claim more than 200,000 lives worldwide each year, with a sharp increase in developing countries.” This is a number that reached more than a million by 2006 according to some estimates. It is higher than many other causes of death in the world today including the most dangerous diseases, and it certainly is far higher than any deaths related to the road that were experienced before the car.

Another problem related to automobiles today is the one of the environment. “The automobile is ..associated with many of the ills of a modern industrial society. Automotive emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides are responsible for as much as 50 percent of ozone in urban areas; despite improvements in air quality forced by government regulations, 50 million Americans still live in countries with unsafe ozone levels” (United States Congress - Office of Technology Assessment 1995).

Cars are one of the major contributors to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and this is one of the main reasons of global warming and global climate change. This also influenced the various societies and influenced their choices, thoughts, and habits concerning how we should deal with our planet and how we should contribute to the protection of all the conditions that allowed us and others to live and develop throughout the history of the Earth.

Some authors indicate to a variety of car-culture related examples that should be changed if we desire to maintain our lives and ideals protected: “Let’s ask ourselves whether we really need a 300-hp SUV or sedan to get to and from the grocery store. Let’s consider just a few of the senseless risks we take: Running yellow lights gone red, passing slower drivers for no reason other than to show them our brake lights, not wearing seat belts, driving after ‘just a couple’ of drinks. Let’s reflect on how, with routine disregard for the law, safety and common sense, we approach driving more as a means of entertainment--complete with radio, CD, beverages, food, movies and constant telephone chatter--than as a means of transportation” (Danckers 2007).

CONCLUSION

The cars changed the way in which we live, it modified how business is done, and it changed the way in which we deal with one another. Just as it is nearly impossible for us to imagine the future without telephones, televisions, and maybe computers, it is even more difficult to imagine our world without cars.

The car certainly influenced human arts and speed of thought and action, and it allowed us to be in more places within our life times. But, just as the case with any other new concept, people need to find the elements that are useful and try to limit those that are not.

Things will never be as they were before the cars came into our lives, and this is why experts and scientists are trying to find new sources of energy to fuel the cars other than fossil fuels; the car of the future can rely on solar power, on electricity, or on any new source of energy, but in the future there will always be a car, because the good sides it gave us are too important for us and for our future.

Works Cited

Rhys, G. (2005) Motor Industry. Microsoft Encarta 2006 [CD-ROM]. Microsoft Corporation, 2005.

Robinson, J. G. (2005) The Big Book of Car Culture: The Armchair Guide to Automotive Americana. St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing Company.

United States Congress - Office of Technology Assessment. (1995) Advanced Automotive Technology: Visions of a Super-Efficient Family Car. Darby, PA: Diane Publishing.

Berger, M. L. (2001) The Automobile in American History and Culture: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Shain, E. (1988) Tainted love. New Internationalist [online]. Available from: http://www.newint.org/issue187/update.htm

[cited 19 March 2007].

Wollen, P. and Kerr, J. (2002) Autopia: Cars and Culture. London, UK: Reaktion Books Ltd.

Danckers, A. (2007) U.S. car culture has us drunk on risks. Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. pp.30.