Let us return to the private car. Whatever convenience and comfort it provides comes at various costs. Cars are the main source of pollutants worldwide. There is no such thing as a clean car; cars just vary in the amount they pollute. Despite increasingly stringent emissions control standards over the decades in the US, cars pollute more than they used to-because people are driving farther.
It is difficult for us to appreciate just how much cars pollute. The air in Dhaka City, after all, improved dramatically after the banning of two-stroke baby taxis, and again with the introduction of unleaded fuel. However, this is by no means an indication that the air in Dhaka is clean. Any trip to the countryside is a reminder of the pleasure of breathing clean air. Even in Dhaka, if we wake up early and take a walk, we can experience a bit of the pleasure of fresh air; as each car passes, we can also understand just how much each car pollutes the air. As the streets fill with cars, the pollution rises.
On hartal days, despite large numbers of people moving about the city, the air is fresh and the city (violence aside) is quiet. Cars-wide paved roads needed to accommodate them-also emit a great deal of heat, making Dhaka even more insufferable in the many hot months.
Presumably one component of civilization is respecting the rights of others. The attitude of drivers-who represent the wealthiest portion of society-that they alone should have full access to roads-is anti-democratic, anti-civilization, and disturbingly elitist.
A society in which people fail to respect the rights of others, and in which the rich believe they should have special privileges on the roads as well as in every other aspect of life, is a society destined to fall into crime, selfishness, viciousness, and lack of the neighborly friendliness that allows people to live comfortably together.
Syed Saiful Alam
Save the Environment Movement
Dhaka, Bangladesh
"Presumably one component of civilization is respecting the rights of others. The attitude of drivers-who represent the wealthiest portion of society-that they alone should have full access to roads-is anti-democratic, anti-civilization, and disturbingly elitist."
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid logic! Car owners who are paying huge taxes every year that are used to construct and maintain those roads have every legitimate rights to use them. I don't think any car owners will ever object to other vehicles using those roads provided they also pay taxes, use legal and fit vehicles and have a licensed drivers to run them properly on the street without violating rights of others. However, anyone can rightly demand the removal or banning of each and every illegal, unsafe, unfit and expired vehicles being driven by unlicensed drivers and ask for preventing them from using public places to park such kinds of vehicles.