ABSTRACT
The American Automobile Association's (AAA) annually-calculated "Your Driving Costs" places the average yearly cost to own and operate a car in the United States at US$8,946, that is, 59.6 cents per mile based on 15,000 miles of driving per year. When students are asked to name the largest out-of-pocket cost of their automobile, the first thing that comes most often to mind is fuel. Road crashes are the leading cause of death worldwide from ages 15 to 29 and the second leading cause of death from ages 5 to 14. While road traffic injuries are currently the tenth leading cause of death worldwide, by 2030 that ranking will be fifth. A particularly extensive study to examine the links between automobile use and community health comes out of Harvard University's Department of Government. Based on approximately 30,000 interviews from 40 different US geographical settings, this research paints a clear picture of the car's costs to civic disengagement and community cohesion.
