International Car Free Day – Thursday 21st September

The first International Car Free day is this Thursday. Organised by Prague based international lobby group Car Busters the day aims to get people out of their cars and onto the streets in what will be the ‘the symbolic end of the automobile age’.

Over 200 community groups around the world are expected to take part in the event. Wellingtonians are encouraged to get out of their cars and walk, skate, bike, scooter or use passenger transport for their journeys on Thursday.

International Car Free day falls at the perfect time for Wellingtonians who are having to start thinking seriously about the modes of transport they use. With the price of petrol rising and the growing global realisation of the environmental costs associated with excessive car use it is imperative that New Zealand turns away from being a car culture. The reality is that the costs associated with excessive car use far outweigh the benefits.

Instead of pining excessive blame on the individual driver Car Busters recognises that collective problems demand collective solutions. “People are simply losing their 1950’s enthusiasm for the car” says Car Buster Randell Ghent. “Hardly surprising when Los Angeles residents spend 82 hours per year in congested traffic; when traffic accidents kill 500 000 people per year; when our once compact, vibrant cities have become sprawled-out cancers over the land. The car has brought this plague and the car – no matter how clean the new models purport to be – is not going to get us out of it.”

For further information on events planned for Wellington please contact Paul on 025 269 5001

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