Automobiles are motor vehicles with four wheels that primarily transport people rather than cargo. There are about one billion automobiles in use worldwide. The automobile has been a major force for change in twentieth-century society, but new forces are charting the future. The automobile has made life much easier for many people by giving them greater mobility and allowing them to live more independent lives. The automobile has also changed the economy by providing a large market for ancillary industries, such as steel and petroleum. The automobile has also affected the family unit, by making it easier for families to spend more time together.
The automobile was developed in the late 1800s and is based on the internal combustion engine, invented by Christiaan Huygens and his son Christiaan Jr. In 1870 Siegfried Marcus built a crude vehicle with an internal combustion engine fueled by gasoline that ran on a two-stroke internal combustion engine.
By the end of the nineteenth century, Germans Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz and Nicolaus Otto had perfected gasoline-driven engines. By the early 1900s, automobile production was booming.
Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry by introducing modern mass production techniques at his Highland Park, Michigan, plant, where workers performed only one task and car parts passed on conveyor belts. His Model T runabout cost $575 in 1912, less than the average annual wage in America, and sold 15 million units by the end of its production.
Ford’s success allowed other American manufacturers to enter the car market. By the 1920s, automobile production accounted for one-fifth of the country’s industrial output and consumed more than half the nation’s petroleum supply. It was also a vital economic driver for ancillary industries, requiring the development of new technologies in steel and petroleum processing.
After World War II, however, automobile innovation came to a halt as the market became saturated and technology stagnated. Engineering became subordinated to nonfunctional styling at the expense of safety and quality, and the higher per-unit profits Detroit producers could achieve by selling gas-guzzling road cruisers came at the social cost of increased air pollution and a drain on dwindling world oil reserves.
Today cars are becoming computerized machines that can do everything from adjust the temperature inside the cabin to steer them through curves on a highway. They can even detect and avoid obstacles. The car of the future may be a robot that can drive itself. It will know where it is going, what speed it should be traveling and when to stop for a meal.
In most countries passengers must fasten their seat belts and children are placed in special seats. There are also laws against drunk driving. An accident involving a car can cause serious injuries or death. It is important to have insurance for your car to protect you and your loved ones. This is because car accidents are very common. This is why it’s so important to do your research before you buy a policy.