CCO Calls for Moratorium on Car Sales

It doesn't get much better than this.

Car Concerns Ontario (CCO) today called for a moratorium on sale of new cars, citing their danger to the health of citizens.

According to CCO, cars result in the deaths of over 2000 Canadians per year in traffic fatalities, killing more Canadians than are killed by homicides. “The impact of the use of automobiles on the health of our population is simply unacceptable,” said William Bouche, spokesman for CCO. “In addition to deaths, there are thousands of injuries.”

The CCO web site lists other concerns. Collisions with birds are estimated at over 5 million per year in Ontario. The negative impact of automobile exhaust was cited as a major source of air pollution. The use of food growing land to build roads to is a major concern. The impact on insect populations, the base of the food chain birds and bats in particular was mentioned as an area that desperately needs more study. Vibrations caused by passing cars are suspected to harm earthworm populations.

A main objection to cars was the sound they make. “Cars driving by can wake people up,” said Bouche. “They make a sound that carries for miles, and they are louder than the refrigerator inside a home.” Sleep deprivation has been associated with poor health.

Car Vigilance Ontario (CVO), a splinter group, goes further. “We all know that a certain percentage of the population gets car sickness. This is because the human body was not made to travel faster than 25 miles per hour, the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse. The long term health impact of the travel in cars has not been studied adequately. The precautionary principal dictates that we ban cars until these impacts are known,” said Carmen Corbeau, spokesperson for CVO. “We need to think about the children.”

The Mayor of Sanguine Shores, Joe Bruce, agreed. “A substantial portion of municipal land is used for roads, yet cars pay no property tax at all. It is difficult to find funds to run a municipality when this subsidy for cars is funded entirely by towns and cities.”

Buzz Hargrove, former head of the Canadian Union of Auto Workers disagreed. “Cars have been in use on Ontario roads for over a century. And Ontario workers produce more cars than any other jurisdiction in North America. Someone has to speak for the workers, and the drivers. We can’t let government policy be beholden to the views of fringe groups.”

Tim Hudak, leader of the PC party blames cars on the government. “It is time to hold the McGuinty government accountable for cars, and the damage they cause. The subsidies have to stop. Ontarion’s can’t afford the cost to drive cars any more.”

Dalton McGuinty’s office issued this statement. “The car industry is the backbone of Ontario’s manufacturing sector, and creates thousands of jobs.”

Nobody addressed the issue of how people will get around without cars.