Originally posted by Lazerus
You are forgetting the other half of the equation in that quote, and your earlier statement about percentage of world population versus percentage of vehicle ownership omits an important factor as well. I guess you were "just trying to prove a point", as you said in this thread too. No reason to look at all the facts when you are trying to justify your position.
Don't read into it what isn't there. I merely said that one particular country has 5% of the world's population, and 40% of the world's vehicles. I wasn't talking about Germany, and I wasn't making a comparison - I said what I said - is all. If there's a problem with that, then maybe it's
your problem.
Moose - I think your concerns are perhaps short term ones. Back in 1974, we watched in horror as the price of petrol doubled from where it had been just 12 months earlier. We thought our world had ended! I think that the whole supply/demand/price issue will find its own level. People will learn to economise. Further up ^ someone said he was going to get the bike out, and you're indicating that you're going to cut back your driving. People will adapt by buying more economical vehicles. Folks will start to ask whether they really NEED that SUV. OK, I know it's not going to be without pain, and there will be cries of anguish in the coming months...
Nilsen - you are right. I know a lot of people living in New York - specifically Manhattan, and very few of them bother with cars - it's just not worth the hassle. One of my friends lives at the "crossroads of Manhattan" at 57th & 6th Avenue - right near Carnegie Hall. And she got rid of her car once she'd sold the house in the Hamptons - no longer needed it. Just to garage it was costing $4000/yr, and the insurance was in 4 figures - and that was in 1995. You can get a lot of cabs for that sort of money. A car is an inconvenience for anyone living in Manhattan.
