An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. Different types of automobiles include cars, buses, trucks, vans, and motorcycles, with cars being the most popular. The term is derived from Greek 'autos' (self) and Latin 'movére' (move), referring to the fact that it 'moves by itself'. Earlier terms for automobile include 'horseless carriage' and 'motor car'. As of 2005 there are 600 million cars worldwide (0.074 per capita).
The automobile was hailed as an environmental improvement over horses when it was first introduced. Before its introduction, in New York City, over 10,000 tons of manure had to be removed from the streets daily. However, in 2006 the automobile is one of the primary sources of worldwide air pollution and cause of substantial noise and health effects.
Links
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
- NHTSA.gov
- Motor Vehicle Factory Sales and Retail Sales 1970-1997 (US Census)
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Technorati Tags: 

Recent comments
2 days 22 hours ago
4 weeks 4 days ago
17 weeks 5 days ago
22 weeks 3 hours ago