In 1970, the American pop group
Three Dog Night released the song
Joy to The World on the band's album
Naturally.
The
song was written by
Hoyt Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999), and is also popularly known by its
opening words, "
Jeremiah was a bullfrog".
Actually, the band never really wanted to record the song but they needed one last track for the album. They had been on an overseas tour when that album was released and were greatly surprised to hear that the song they didn't want to record ended up being a big hit.
The song went to number one on the pop music charts in February 1971 and was the top single of the year in Billboard Magazine for 1971
I loved this song as a kid, but I have long wondered about the line, "I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the war...". I can understand if people wants to dump bars and wars, but why cars? Why would the group Three Dog Night wants to throw away the cars?... I asked myself.
In the 70s cars and other motorised vehicles are a very convenient mode of transport ~ and still is. But the difference is that even the cheapest car model was a luxury item then, as not many families can afford one. Mine was considered a relatively 'rich' family as my dad was a government servant and owned a car.
It was also around that time my dad changed his second car, a 1963 Hillman 850 with a Peugot 204. But personally I loved the Hillman better, because it has this small window ventilator I like to play with. When my dad drives fast, I would open it a bit, and then wider until the wind blew into my face and make me gasp for breath, then I would close it back. I would also sing my favourite song to the wind from the ventilator as I would get a different sound from my vocals as I adjust the opening ~ as if I was using a sound mixer with a distortion.
You can have a look at old cars like the Volkswagen Beetle, they still have it. In later cars made in the 70s, they discontinued the design of car doors with the ventilators. Practical wise, I think the vents are quite convenient when you need to re-circulate fresh air inside your car without the air-condition.
Now lets get back to the main topic, of which now you would have some hint why anyone would want to throw or ban people from driving cars (or any motorised vehicles).
It has to do with
SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT!.
In some cultures, like ours, the car (or the car culture) is a reflection of social status. The more expensive the car, or the more cars a single household have, the higher their social status is reflected.
The effects of the automobile on everyday life especially on the rapid use of it have actually burdened man's capability to contain the problem brought about by its by-product. The number one recurring problem is congestion and second is pollution. The third is the high-cost of acquiring and maintaining land and/or building for parking space. The fourth is of course the high usage and unnecessary burning of fossil fuel or
non-renewable fuels.
Other effects of the automobile on everyday life include a dramatic increase in the rate of
accidental death,
social isolation and the disconnection of community, rise in
obesity and the facilitation of
urban sprawl and
urban decay. (taken from an article:
Effects of the automobile on societies)
If you live in urban areas, feel or smell the air quality around you. Better still check the Internet on the air quality index of your area. As I write this, I checked the AIR POLLUTANT INDEX (API)/INDEKS PENCEMAR UDARA (IPU) at the
Dept of Environment (DOE) website which says as of 3 September 2010 (Friday) in Negeri: Pulau Pinang, Lokasi: Perai, time:7.00am, API: 51 (moderate).
The air quality here is described in terms of an Air Pollutant Index (API). If the API is between 51-100, it means it is moderate or considerable to live with. But if it is above 100, then the air quality is unhealthy, which is proof to the damage we have done to our environment. This also means that nature itself has not been able to neutralize the environment by naturally healing the atmosphere over-night.
An anti-car group called
BAN THE CAR says the car culture is a by-product of urbanity. The car culture, as claimed by them, is both a state and a state of mind. It currently, physically dominates the urban landscape, and has
hegemonic control over popular culture and government economic and transport policies. The car culture is also associated with independence, freedom, and increased status.
The authorities in most big cities now have been trying a number of alternatives to minimize these problems. One of those is banning cars from entering city centres.
In Norway, the country is considering a ban on all cars powered by fossil fuels. Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said a proposal to ban sales of new petrol-powered cars from 2015 could help spur struggling car makers to shift to greener models.
In the United Arab Emirates, the government has
passed a bill : Cars older than 20 years are going to be banned, and used car dealers won't be allowed to sell cars that are more than 10 years old
. The bill was a measure to improve road security
and the environment.
In Amsterdam, by 2040
only EV (Electric Vehicles) are allowed in the city. The government has announced its plan to have no internal combustion engine cars in the city. Even for a city like Amsterdam that is already environmentally conscious, as well as easy to get around without a car, this conversion could feasibly take place in 30 years.
In Germany, cars without
Diesel Particullate Filters (DPF) are banned from entering German cities since January 1, 2008. Drivers will be required to have an inspection sticker on their windshield that signifies they have a DPF filter if it's an old diesel car, reports
AutoBlog Green. Drivers caught without the DPF will have to pay a 40 EUR fine and lose one point from their driver's license.
In the UK, somebody made a petition to the Prime Minister to
Ban All Cars. Even though the cars are the green, cleaner types. The creator of the petition says all measures to introduce cleaner cars are pointless. A car causes more damage to the environment when it is being built than when it is being driven around. The petition also wants the production of new cars to stop, to save the world from the release of greenhouse gases and reduce traffic levels.
"Roads in Britain would not have to adapt to growing numbers of cars (in fact, the amount of traffic could well decrease, as new cars are not as well built as older vehicles and tend to wear out after ten years)", the petition says. However, the petition has been
rejected because it was outside the remit or powers of the Prime Minister and Government.
Italian cities are also banning cars. Rome and Milan are testing a ban on cars with even or odd-numbered licence plates on alternate Thursdays. On Sunday 16 January 2005 people in Rome, Milan and other Italian cities got around on public transport, bicycles, on foot and even on horseback as cars were banned to reduce air pollution.
In Singapore, the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) which charges vehicles entering congested areas of the city was first used in 1978. It was the first city in the world to implement the electronic road toll collection system for purposes of
congestion pricing.
Only in Malaysia there is no definite plan on banning or charging cars entering its cities. The only news available with regards to this is the tabling of the Land Public Transport (LPT) Bill in Parliament recently ~ the introduction of an area congestion pricing (ACP) scheme in traffic-snarled cities around the country.
Read
theStar:
Bumpy road before a smooth drive.
This congestion toll system is similar to the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) in Singapore, and the Congestion Charge (CC) in London, England. It makes users pay to use roads in the city centre to reduce traffic jams and to promote more efficient use of roads.
This is a good start.
But in Malaysia every time a new system is being implemented there's always a catch to it.
Who gets the concession to build the system?
Will the money collected be pumped back to the people by building new and better roads including a better public transport system?
People here are wary as history tells them that every time a thing like this is created it is just another money pit for the cronies. The government always have an excuse. All profits will be channelled away for building or covering something else.
Maybe we should get the Three Dog Night to reunite and perform here in Malaysia.
What they should write next is a song that says rather than ban the cars we should just ban the cronies and throw the government away.
Read how he tried to persuade current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to continue with his “crooked bridge” idea to replace the existing Causeway link to Singapore in 2009.
