When first introduced, cars offered a freedom that no other transport could provide. Until World War I, more than one third of the motor cars in the United States were electric. These were safer and easier to start than petrol cars. The first petrol-powered vehicle with an electric starter was the 1911 Cadillac. This new electric invention meant that electric cars were replaced by petrol-powered cars which could go further and faster.
During the 1920s, cars became the principal way of getting around. About 20% of the population owned a car. By 1930, there were twice as many roads as there had been ten years earlier – the car was changing people’s lifestyles. People who lived in the country especially benefited because they were no longer isolated. The US Post Office began free rural delivery and farm children went to larger schools by car or school bus. Cars changed life for city people too, encouraging the growth of suburbs. People used their cars to drive to work and to go shopping. They took drives at weekends and drove to national parks and resorts for their holidays.
In the 1960s, because of the increasingly large numbers of cars, the social costs began to be recognized. In cities, cars created traffic, noise and accidents, but worst of all they produced air pollution. The 1970s saw the beginning of “clean air” campaigns, and Air Quality Standards were introduced to try to reduce car pollution. Since then, the new danger to the environment has created a new interest in the electric car, which is cleaner, safer and more environmentally friendly.
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