Some inventions make a job easier.
Or they help us get more work done more quickly. Some help us get work done for less money. The automobile did all those—and more! Very few inventions have had such a big impact.
Cars changed how people got to work and how they relaxed after work. They changed where people lived, worked, played, ate, and shopped. Cars are the main reason our roads are smooth (gravel is bad for cars). Over time, cars led many Americans to leave cities for the suburbs.
But not everything about cars has been good. Traffic got much worse, and so did noise and air pollution. And that’s not all.
