What would happen if Americans had to go without any type of automobiles, starting tomorrow?

Question

How would it affect our current society? (ie: relief from gas prices, increased sales of bikes, weight loss form walking, etc)Would we be worse or better off and why?

Answer 1

people would die

Answer 2

I would say we would die, but I would not like it. I don't drive much when I am in town, but I like to take trips, and my family all live 3 to 5 hours North of me.

Answer 3

If you're suggesting a literally immediate end to vehicular travel, it would probably look something like this:

Everyone who commutes each and every day, including the millions upon millions of us who live in the suburbs, would not be able to get to work. The gears of society would stop turning and the services that we've all come to depend on would not be available. Shortly afterwards the economy would crumble.

Secondly, all of the long-haul trucks we depend on to ship our food from thousands of miles away would cease to operate, which means massive food shortages.

As much as I would like to believe otherwise, without effective policing (coupled with mass starvation and hysteria) we would probably fall into a state of anarchy. Looting and wanton lawlessness would likely abound for a while.

I see what you're getting at, though. Maybe a world without the internal combustion engine would be bucolic, serene and peaceful; but in reality, when gas gets too expensive for the average person to afford, it ain't going to be pretty.

Answer 4

People have continued to pour into metropolitan areas over the last 100 years, even though the information age should make that unnecessary.  Without any transportation, obviously those folks would starve.  That's 95% of the population.

The only people that would survive would be people that feed themselves.  That's 1% of the population.

If you've noticed the impact of natural disasters, I'm sure you've noticed how vulnerable people are to the smallest problems.  If all the infrastructure doesn't run perfectly every day, they can't even find water for themselves.  That's how city life works.

Answer 5

bicycles would be something to get into, the prices would go up. at least we could breath better and people would be in better shape if they had to walk, not enough people walk these day, all they want to do is ride, that 1 reason theres so many obese people in the united states, not enough exercise.