Hyderabad: World Car Free Day is celebrated on September 22. It is a worldwide initiative to encourage motorists to take a break from driving and explore alternatives. So if you want to be more environmentally friendly, take part in World Car-Free Day. Sure, giving up your vehicle may not be the most convenient way to go car-free, but it is the best way to stop gas-guzzling for even one day. Is it possible to go for an entire day without needing a car? Yes! It can be done, and World Car-Free Day wants to prove it. This day invites everyone to leave their cars at home and enjoy the streets free of traffic and pollution.
Objectives Of World Car-Free Day
The World Car-free Day's main goal is to increase public awareness of the value of adopting alternate modes of transportation in place of relying solely on private vehicles. The campaign's main goals are to protect the environment and lessen air pollution and noise in urban areas.
History Of Car-Free Day
- Car-free Sunday traces its origins back to environmental and energy crises that sparked a rethink of urban transportation.
- The first recorded instance of car-free days occurred during the 1973 oil crisis when the Netherlands implemented Car-Free Sundays to reduce oil consumption.
- This initiative saw streets emptied of cars, allowing people to enjoy quieter, less polluted urban environments, which also demonstrated the potential benefits of reduced car dependency.
- Over time, these early experiments evolved into a more organized movement with global participation. By 2000, Bogotá, Colombia, emerged as a leader by successfully implementing large-scale Car-Free Days, significantly cutting down the number of vehicles on the road.
Importance Of World Car Free Day
- A single sustainable choice of taking the train instead of driving can have a huge positive impact on the environment, lowering your CO2 impact by a massive 67%.
- As for walking and cycling? Unless your trainers have their own motors, biking or walking instead of taking a car is about the greenest way to get to your destination that we can think of.
- If you've considered selecting more eco-friendly modes of transportation, you're not alone. According to the results of our most recent survey, people in the UK are eager to regularly switch from driving to less-polluting forms of transportation.
- And as more and more communities join in each year, the advantages become increasingly apparent. For example, air pollution decreased by 40% and 89% in Paris and London, respectively, on separate days when cars were not allowed.
Annual Car Sales Worldwide 2010-2023 And A Forecast For 2024
According to the Statista Research Department. Worldwide car sales grew to around 75.3 million automobiles in 2023, up from around 67.3 million units in 2022. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the sector experienced a downward trend on the back of a slowing global economy, while COVID-19 and the Russian war on Ukraine contributed to shortages in the automotive semiconductor industry and further supply chain disruptions in 2022. Despite these challenges, 2023 sales surpassed pre-pandemic levels and are forecast to keep rising through 2024
Covid-19 hits car demand: It had been estimated pre-pandemic that international car sales were on track to reach 80 million. While 2023 sales are still far away from that goal, this was the first year where car sales exceeded pre-pandemic values. The automotive market faced various challenges in 2023, including supply shortages, automotive layoffs, and strikes in North America. However, despite these hurdles, the North American market was among the fastest-growing regions that year, along with Eastern Europe and Asia, as auto sales in these regions increased year-on-year.
Chinese market recovery: After years of double-digit growth, China's economy began to lose steam in 2022, and recovery has been slow through 2023. China was the largest automobile market based on sales with around 25.8 million units in 2023. However, monthly car sales in China were in free fall in April 2022 partly due to shortages, fears over a looming recession, and the country grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. By June of that same year, monthly sales in China were closer to those recorded in 2021.
- Americans place a high value on car ownership, a fact made evident by the latest car ownership statistics in the U.S. Between 2018 and 2022, personal and commercial vehicle registrations increased by 3.5%, indicating an upward trend in car ownership.
- Most U.S. households (91.7%) had at least one vehicle in 2022 (the latest data available), and 22.1% of households had three or more vehicles.
Car Sales in India for FY 2023-24
- In the fiscal year 2023–2024, India saw an all-time high in the wholesale sales of passenger vehicles (cars), amounting to over 42 lakh units.
- During this unprecedented time, Maruti Suzuki India emerged as the market leader with the highest annual domestic sales of 17,93,644 units. Furthermore, the company crossed the 20 lakh unit threshold in total annual sales with a record export figure of 2,83,067 units.
- Hyundai Motor India: After posting its best-ever sales of 7,77,876 units in FY 2023-24 an 8% rise from the previous fiscal year Hyundai Motor India took second place. Additionally, the company's exports increased by 7% to 1,63,155 units.
- Tata Motors: Tata Motors continued to show great performance, coming in third place with sales of 5,73,495 passenger vehicles in FY 2023-24 a 6% rise over the previous year.
Benefits of reduced driving
- Save money on gas, and car maintenance: A lot of money goes into our cars. If we were to drive less, we’d be able to save money on gas, parking, and maintenance.
- Reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment: Reducing your driving helps the environment in more ways than you might even imagine.
- Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the biggest contributors to climate change, and since most cars aren’t very fuel efficient, they’re big culprits of this.
- Improve your physical health by walking or biking more often. With each additional hour spent commuting by car, studies indicate the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, stress and depression increases.
- Improve mental health by reducing stress. With today’s fast-paced lifestyle, stress seems to be an unwelcome companion for many.
- Spend less time stuck in traffic jams. If there’s one thing I truly hate, it’s wasting time. And that doubles when I’m wasting time because I’m stuck in traffic.
- Get to know your local area better by exploring it on foot. Whether you live in a small town, city or even countryside – walking is the best way to really explore and discover new places.
- Save on Parking Many corporate offices, malls, and other establishments offer discounted or free parking to high-occupancy vehicles.Or take turns paying for parking on alternate days. Either way, costs get cut quickly.
Air Pollution In India
- Globally, air pollution is a silent killer. The air pollution levels in India are among the highest in the world, posing a heavy threat to the country's health and economy.
- All of India’s 1.4 billion people are exposed to unhealthy levels of ambient PM 2.5 the most harmful pollutant - emanating from multiple sources. These small particulates with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns, is about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair.
- Exposure to PM 2.5 can cause such deadly illnesses as lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease. 1.67 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in India in 2019, accounting for 17.8% of the total deaths in the country.
- The health impacts of pollution also represent a heavy cost to the economy. Lost output from premature deaths and morbidity attributable to air pollution accounted for economic losses of US$28.8 billion and $8 billion, respectively, in India in 2019. This total loss of $36.8 billion was 1.36% of India's gross domestic product (GDP).
