New Study Shows the Obvious: Americans Have Lots of Cars
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 02.13.08
Captain obvious strikes again. Americans have lots of cars! As much as we want more mass transit and walkable and bikeable cities, this only highlights why we also need cradle-to-cradle (100% recyclable and biodegradable) cars built and powered by clean energy, because all these vehicles won't disappear tomorrow. The study by Experian Automotive found that U.S. households that have at least one car have 35% chances of having three or more. The average is 2.28 vehicles per household.
Of course some factors like the kids staying home longer can have an impact here, but the real conclusion, according to Scott Waldron, president of Experian Automotive:
It's obvious that regardless of where they live or what they earn, Americans place a high value on owning vehicles and in having at least two in their garage.
Some interesting findings:
The most common pairing of vehicles in American households with two to four cars is a full-sized pickup truck and a standard, mid-range vehicle. Of households with two or more vehicles in which one is an SUV, nearly 25% also own a pickup truck. The percentage of one-vehicle households for those earning $250,000 or more annually is 35%—about the same as households with incomes of $25,000 to $34,999
::New Study Shows Multiple Cars Are King in American Households, via ::Study: Nearly 35% of US Households with a Vehicle Have at Least Three
To blunt these numbers a little, a lot of these households are multi-generational, because kids can afford to buy cars but can't afford to move out. And THAT is in fact an step forward in infrastructure efficiency.
In the UK most teenagers who can drive don't own a car, but have to borrow one belonging to their parents. But, they don't need the car except for socialising/shopping etc (assuming they've got to school/college somehow before they could drive), so it's not too much of a problem to share.
I think that to implement a law that regulates the amount of cars that will can have each person, would not be a bad idea.
It could be worse. My wife and I own 3 vehicles. My daily driver is a 5 speed Saturn that I commute in and get 39 mpg. My wife (who won't drive a manual trans car) commutes in her Buick Century and gets 22 mpg. The Chevy Silverado pickup truck (that our sideline business needs) is only driven as needed, because we don't want to commute in a vehicle that gets 17 mpg. If something had to go, the pickup would turn into a commuter.
Solution is simple and will never be implemented in the corporation governed states - taxing excess to death. "Banning" or "outlawing" is clearly against basic human right to drive 10 cars, however making sure that it's just cost prohibitive is straight forward and simple.
But if states cant even tax plastic bags out of existance expecting any positive change is futile. For as long as america is not directly affected by declining planet health, they won't care.
Just like aviation is powered by tombstone technology, green will be as well. I'm hoping for something significant to happen in our life time which will slap american legislature in the face like a baseball bat... up to the point where no amount of lobbying (which hopefully will be illegal at some point) would interfer.
First off, I agree the stats are heavily tipped by the son living at home so he can afford his Mega-Truck with spinning wheel caps etc. Bizarre priorities but it happens all over.
No matter where you go people have "yard cars" Typically unreliable and ugly but often in need of basic but unaffordable (for now) repairs. Poor people (including me when I had little) often keep a couple so one is driven while another being fixed. Expect to see a lot more of this as SUV's become abandoned by wealthier folk.
Then of course there are tarp covered sports cars for middle aged fantastics as well as true RV's.
I have a hunch if you corrected for these the stats would be very different.
I have to say I am actually little heartened. I linked over to the full report and found out that 30% of American households only have one car. This is surprisingly high. All of my immediate friends and family have at least one car per person and usually more.
My childhood household had more cars than people. Today, if you look at how my childhood household has dispersed into adult households, it still does, even though I own no car.
I have 7 cars. what's the big deal. each one has a different purpose. And to the guyt that thinks how many cars you should be allowed to own, you are an idiot. Just because you think you are doing something good by not owning more cars, don't push that on me.