Imagine I told you there was a revolutionary transportation idea that would give everyone the freedom to go anywhere, relatively cheaply and easily. A way for everyone to feel the thrill of American Independence in a new and exciting way, making the commute an enjoyable experience, and the cross country adventure a tangible reality.

Now imagine I told you that you could have all this, but there would be a cost. Your city would be completely restructured to house this new form of transit… in fact, everything about your city would change… neighborhoods would fall to poverty, public space would turn to open lots, and the ability for people to move safely through their urban centers and even suburban neighborhoods would be compromised.

Maybe you would give these things up for a transportation solution that would allow you to move about your town, city and region as you pleased. Maybe you could deal with the degradation of your hometown in favor of your personal desire to go where you want, when you want. But there’s one more catch.

To experience this luxury, 40,000 people would have to die. About 1,600 of those would be children under the age of 15. Surely, this would cause you to balk at the idea of this new transit construct. Your sense of logic would likely take over, causing you to think twice about the consequences of this revolutionary way to move about your world. You would think about your safety and the security of the ones you love, realizing that no level of convenience could justify this carnage.

By now you know where I’m going with this, and by now you’ve likely already thought of 5 reasons why the logic I’ve referenced here is simplistic and nonsensical. After all, it is in our nature to defend what we know, to justify the choices we have woven into the fabric of our everyday life.

The American obsession with the automobile has opened our world to the magnificence of personal transportation. In a country where our desire to express our free will overpowers virtually any alternative, it is fitting that our cars, our trucks, and yes, our coveted SUVs have taken center stage in the definition of who we are for nearly a century. The future of our hometowns, the safety of our families, the infrastructure we cannot maintain… all of these considerations have taken a “back seat” to our unwavering addiction… the 2500 pound vehicles of mobility we inhabit every day.

Let me take a step back for a moment. Believe it or not, this is not an indictment of the American automobile. We live in a country built on free choice, and who am I to question this American right to personal freedom?