Media post: The Impact of Automobiles on Modern Society

Ford Model T

The development of the automobile and its mass manufacture has profound effects on both daily life and the environment, including family life, urban planning, and economics.

How Automobiles Changed Our Lives

Initially, automobiles were considered a luxury item, but now, with sites like rollsauto.com, it’s easy to find a pre-owned vehicle that suits your needs and budget. Automobiles started to make significant changes in our lives. In the 1920s, the first mass-produced car was accessible to the general population. Due to manufacturing process modifications, the typical American could now afford to drive a car.

Ford’s primary objective in setting up its assembly line was to ensure that the Model T would be affordable to most of the population by keeping manufacturing expenses and the selling price as low as possible. Between the 1900s and 1920s, according to Kenneth Hess, Americans moved from having 8,000 vehicles to owning 8,000,000.

Increased Employment

The number of people employed by businesses involved in the manufacture of motor vehicles and other equipment reached its high in the late 1970s at around one million, double the employment level in 1929. Without cars, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States would be out of work.

The New Symbol

Cars evolved to represent human progress and a significant step toward maturity. Teenagers anticipate getting their driver’s license at sixteen since it is a milestone and a chance for more independence. They are now able to go without worrying about finding a ride. But getting a license comes with big responsibilities, like following traffic laws and driving safely, that many 16-year-olds need to get ready for. Teenage-intoxicated drivers cause several fatalities each year.

Promoted Businesses

Business-minded people were able to experiment with inventions like the drive-through restaurant as people started to spend more time traveling than staying at home. In 1954, Ray Kroc capitalized on the issue by purchasing the McDonald’s chain of six eateries and opening the first location of the contemporary fast-food McDonald’s in Illinois. McDonald’s restaurants are now available all over the world.

Created Highway System

The vehicle also altered the American environment. In the 1960s, the utilization of large trucks for the mass transportation of products began to help many truckers and automobile drivers reach their destinations more quickly through the highways. 

Promoted Gender Equality

The role of women in society has changed as a result of automobiles. Women didn’t need to own vehicles when people lived in cities since they could get to everything they needed on foot. But, ladies in the suburbs required a speedy and pleasant mode of transportation. Women were often no longer restricted to home or domestic responsibilities once they got their own cars. By competing with men for the same sorts of professions outside the house, they achieved greater gender equality.

Safety Standards

As automobile use became ubiquitous, so too did the recognition that something needed to be done to lessen the toll that accidents were taking. The safety of automobiles became a bigger priority for engineers and legislators.

Fastening safety belts is now a legal requirement. More than 12,000 American lives were saved by seatbelts in 2001. Still, in that same year, over two-thirds of fatally injured passengers weren’t buckled in.

Modern safety features like airbags and vehicle sensors ensure the safety of everyone and everything inside a car in the event of an accident. Consumer demand drove all of these developments in today’s automobile industry. As the world’s population rises, parents want to transport their children in safe vehicles.

The Adverse Consequences of Automobile Use

Cars were a fantastic new item at the beginning of the 20th century. Yet, the invention of the vehicle had unfavorable consequences. Of course, when the mass-produced vehicle took over the family, the economy, and the landscape, there were many gains, but there were also lots of losses.

Negative Impact on Traditional Transport

This more luxurious and convenient mode of transportation had to squeeze in between more conventional modes. As the automobile rapidly gained popularity in the 1920s, it had a major impact on other, more energy-efficient modes of transportation like bicycles and trains.

Since the 1890s, bicycles have been a preferred mode of transportation over walking, although their popularity has substantially decreased since the development of automobiles.

Cars Becoming an Expensive Necessity

At the moment, vehicles predominate in passenger transportation. They are now necessary for humans to operate in daily life. The typical household spends more on transportation than on food and has at least one automobile. According to the Association for Automotive Innovation, the automotive industry employs around 8% of Americans. Sometimes the expenses of driving one’s own car are too high for people who are having financial difficulties. Many people have to travel a long distance to work each morning, but they need more funds to cover gas costs.

Environmental Damage 

Air pollution is a result of fuel combustion. Damage to human health from burning gasoline and diesel byproducts is one issue that results from pollution, and another is global warming, which is largely brought on by the carbon dioxide produced while burning gasoline and diesel.

Conclusion

Every aspect of life, as we know, would be different without vehicles. And it is safe to say that the trend will go on. Everyone will continue to use cars as their primary mode of mobility, influencing global society and the world’s economy.