Citation

Holzapfel H. World Transp. Policy Pract. 1995; 1(1): 41-44.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, Eco-Logica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The term violence should be used carefully. Many people drive their cars intending no harm. But automobile driving, in its existing form, is anything but a rational phenomenon with the purpose of getting from A to B: cars designed for speeds at which they hardly ever travel, European cities ripe for good pedestrian development relinquishing their urban charm to chunks of metal - the hallmarks of the car-centred society are all too conspicuous, and its uses by no means compensate for them. The negative influences of the car-centred society are enormous. Indeed car technology resembles no other, not even the technology of war, in the destructive influences it has so far inflicted.

This article considers the fact that the horsepower and the speed of cars has increased considerably since 1981 and suggests that, 20 years ago, only motor races saw such dangerously close distances between cars. It discusses the negative influences of the car-centred society - for example more than half a million people have been killed by cars on German streets alone (not considering those seriously injured). The article highlights the fact that the psychological effects suffered by victims have rarely been analysed. Statistics associated with dangerous driving; characteristics of aggressive drivers; and reactions of slow drivers when irritated by aggressive faster drivers are assessed. It concludes that cars have brought an increase in violence and the only way of stopping this violence is to face the problems that cars create. (A) (Abstract from TRID)