Cars and trains have changed a lot. This video shows the difference pretty clearly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ptUrQOMPs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1

Cars and trains have changed a lot. This video shows the difference pretty clearly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ptUrQOMPs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ptUrQOMPs (it's a head-on crash test between a 1959 Bel Air and a 2009 Malibu). Cars are immensely safer than the death-traps they were in the past. They're also immensely more comfortable, mind-bogglingly more fuel efficient, and produce a hell of a lot less pollution. These aren't marginal improvements.