by Matt Bird

Created on: May 15, 2009

Cars are undeniably convenient. They'll get you across town dozens of times faster than you'd manage on your feet alone.The automobile has made the world a much smaller, much more connected place, and we owe a debt of gratitude to it as a result.

Yet for all the perks there are plenty of down sides to driving, and as a non-driver myself I'm happy to share a couple reasons why you may not want to step behind the wheel. They all work just fine for me.

1.) It's expensive. Just buying the car in the first place costs a lot of money, but then you also have to pay for insurance and gas - and, worse, the gas has to be replaced fairly often. Given the state of the economy in most countries today, can you really afford to keep filling up that car every time it's empty?

2.) It's noisy. Even the quietest of vehicles will never match a pedestrian when it comes to staying low-toned. There's no peace of mind to be had if there's a car anywhere near you, especially so if you're one of those unlucky few who happen to live near a highway. Just try getting to sleep with cars barrelling by your window every night.

3.) It's polluting. There aren't many cars that are particularly light on the environment. And even if there were, the cumulative effects of car exhaust on, well, EVERYTHING around us is horrid. The effects of removing one vehicle from the mass of polluters may seem inconsequential, but it wouldn't be if hordes of people did it.

4.) It's dangerous. Yes, there are a lot of perfectly sound drivers out there, and accidents - all things considered - aren't as common as they might be. That said there's a lot of potential death hiding in every car that prowls the highways, and it only takes one misstep to get a lot of people hurt.

5.) It's lazy. Cars are great for long trips, sure, but what if you just need to go down to the corner store? Do you really need to haul out your keys for a two minute trip? Suck in that gut and use your feet instead. Who knows, you might slip up and get some actual exercise in the process. Even lengthier excursions can be done on the back of a bike, and depending on which route you take the amount of time spent might not be much different.

6.) And, subtle though tragic, you miss the scenery. You don't get much of a chance to appreciate the outside world in a car. You'll overlook so many details as you zip by everything. It's amazing how different a town or a city seems on foot than from the front seat of a Volvo.

Used in moderation cars are great. I won't deny that. But taking them EVERYWHERE is wasteful, and I'd be a much happier person if I saw the number of wheels on the roads cut in half. At the very least I'd breathe a bit easier, and that's reason enough to be thankful.

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