Automotive Ethics :: Automobiles Transportation Technology Essays

Automotive Ethics Automotive ethics is a subject that is often over looked. Not many people tend to look at what is ethical in the automotive industry; most people are generally satisfied if they can get a good deal on a car. However, in reality, automotive ethics has an affect on how automobiles are made, what regulations the government puts on them, and their hazard on the environment. Before the engine was invented, life revolved around a much more complicated system of transportation. Much advancement in technology has been made to make the common lifestyle today much easier; a few examples are cellular telephones and onboard navigation systems in automobiles. Cellular telephones and navigation systems have become an everyday item, but nobody looks at the dangers that can have while operating a motor vehicle. Before the invention of the modern day engine, lifestyles were completely different. Letters were sent by horse drawn wagons, people traveled by horses and other such animals, often taking an entire day to go twenty miles. The first direct injection fuel engine was not invented until 1923.[1] It only took a year before this engine was put into automobiles, making the lives of the general public much easier. The invention of the engine not only made it possible to travel by road, but also by water and air. Mail was no longer delivered by horses and families were able to travel from one place to another in less than an entire day. However, the affects of the modern day engine can be seen all over the world. Take Los Angeles for example; the city is filled with smog which is from the overcrowding of all the freeways with automobiles. Technology has escalated to a level where engines are no longer made by the working man. Now, engines can be made simply machines and computer based tools. However, these thought of simple ways of creating engines are not as easy as the first seemed. There are many positive and negative aspects of using technology to design engines. A problem with building engines using computers and machines is that they put out far more pollution than workers creating them by hand. It may be cheaper than paying the workers, but then there still are many processes that companies must go through just to have the opportunity to use technological equipment. For example, companies must obtain waste permits in order to properly dispose of toxic waste.