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One Less Car
Tales of an Auto-free Family
By Jonathon Allen
We respond much the same way my friend Teresa does when people ask why she doesn't wear a watch: "Why should I wear a watch when everyone else knows what time it is?"
The point is that there are more than enough cars to go around. In fact, in 1998 there were 25 million more vehicles in the United States than there were licensed drivers. Most of our friends have cars they are willing to share for the occasional airport run or shopping trip, and on the random occasion when we want to leave town, we (gasp!) rent a car.
The math involved with renting a car one weekend every month still works out better than if we owned one. It's also brand new, fully insured and on the off chance it breaks down or we have to leave its smoking hull in a ditch somewhere, all we have to do is call the rental agency and ask for a replacement. It's not our car, and hence, not our problem.
In the end, that's probably what keeps us on our bikes. Life is just more simple without a car and it makes little sense to spend thousands of dollars inflicting a tremendous amount of damage on the environment just so we can motor to Starbucks and back in a machine capable of being a lunar rover. Especially when doing the same trip by bike is likely to put a relaxed smile on our faces and make the kids scream, "Wheee!"
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