IELTS essay sample | Why do people buy cars

More and more people buy or use cars and it makes an impact on the environment. Discuss the consequences of this trend. What could be a solution to the problem?

Sample response

Almost everyone owns a car these days. This is particularly true in the developed world where it is hard to find households without cars. Today, the situation in developing countries is not much different either. This trend has more drawbacks than advantages.

More and more people are buying cars. Private cars make traveling easier and make people independent of public transport systems. In addition to this obvious benefit, cars are a status symbol. This is particularly true in the developing world where one’s social standing improves when one buys a car. Unfortunately car ownership has lots of downsides too.

Vehicles are a major cause of air pollution in both developed and developing nations. They pollute the air we breathe and cause several health problems. While technology has developed a lot, most cars still use fossil fuels and their supplies are dwindling. At this rate of consumption, we may use up all the fuel in the world in a few decades. This is an alarming prospect.

Car ownership has several other downsides too. An increase in the number of vehicles on the road poses a threat to our safety as well. Too many vehicles lead to more accidents. Many of our cities don’t have the infrastructure to handle the excess of vehicles. This leads to traffic blocks. One way of reducing the number of cars on the roads is to improve the efficiency of the public transport system. If buses and trains run on time, few people will want to use a private car. The government should also consider making cars costly by imposing heavy taxes on them. Increasing the price of fuel may also discourage people from buying cars.

To conclude, private cars increase pollution and pose a threat to our safety. Improving the efficiency of public transport is the easiest way to discourage people from buying cars.