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Looking for the Fulfillment That Car Ads Promise? You Won’t Get It From Driving.
Car commercials promise emotional fulfillment to mask the fact that driving is stultifying and sedentary.
February 5, 2018
This “War on Cars” Video Will Defend America From Transit-Riding Infidels
PragerU's latest video, released this week, is about a fundamental American value: driving big, gas-guzzling cars and not using other modes of transportation, because freedom.
August 4, 2017
Get Ready for Uber’s “Flying Cars” Conference to Generate Lots of Dumb Headlines
Whizzing above the city may sound appealing in a Jetsons sort of way, but Uber's thinking on this technology is completely untethered from its impact on the cities and towns below, where the people are.
April 25, 2017
Nashville Police Call Driver Who Struck Protesters a “Victim”
A 68-year-old man who ran his car through a group of protesters in Nashville not only won't be charged, but is being treated by local law enforcement as though he were the victim of a crime. And to make matters worse, a state legislator wants to codify legal immunity for drivers who strike protesters.
February 15, 2017
8 Transportation Engineering Euphemisms That Should Be Tossed Out
To this day, jargon that originated in the mid-20th Century highway era tilts transportation engineering against walking, biking, and transit.
January 17, 2017
How to Counter the Victim-Blaming Impulse After a Traffic Crash
When a driver strikes someone walking or biking, the tendency to blame the victim runs deep. Ask Raquel Nelson, who lost her young son to a hit-and-run driver, then got convicted for vehicular homicide, even though she was just trying to walk across the street with her children from a bus stop to her home. Or witness the reaction to the death of Amanda Phillips, who was struck by a truck driver while biking in Boston last week.
June 27, 2016
Carseats and the Limitations of American Safety Culture
One lesson they really hammer home, when you're a new parent, is the importance of carseats.
December 18, 2015
Why Creating Meaningful Transportation Change Is So Hard
Cross-posted from City Observatory.
October 21, 2015
“Adam Ruins Everything” Explains the Origins of “Jaywalking”
Think the origins of "jaywalking" in 1920s car industry propaganda are too esoteric for a mainstream audience? Watch this clip from truTV's "Adam Ruins Everything" that adapts research from Peter Norton's Fighting Traffic, a history of how motordom conquered American streets in the early 20th century. It's a good sign when productions backed by the entertainment industry start devoting attention to topics like this.
October 14, 2015
No, Millennials Aren’t Buying More Cars Than Gen X
Cross-posted from City Observatory.
April 22, 2015