Cars and behaviour: psychological barriers to car restraint ... - iapsc

crisis the small and overloaded Yugo and Lada cars were the last protection against the
cold and the enemy for thousands of homeless refugees.
A device of psychological superiority
Rarely, as our analysis shows, has technology provided a more successful satisfier of
basic humans needs and motives than the car and it is very unlikely that the feat will
ever be repeated. Neglecting the car’s psychological assets, common in transport
research, may lead to considerable harm and ineffective political choices. Large
investments in either roads or public transport, when primarily based upon economic
reasoning and considerations of public acceptability, let alone pressure from the car-
industrial-cultural complex, will not contribute to restraint and control. Furthermore, it
may prevent the necessary R&D into new behaviour-modifying technologies such as ISA
[Intelligent Speed Adaptation] and new forms of road pricing. Public transport is clearly
at such a great and insurmountable psychological disadvantage that it can never hope
to close the gap on its own.
Interventions
The question then remains, how is man to protect himself against the car when it poses
a threat to himself and his environment? A psychologist's answer would be to see the
car-man as a predator and the pedestrian and cyclist as its prey. It is up to the latter to
devise methods of increasing their freedom of movement - and at the same time
reducing their fear - while restricting that of the predatory car. These methods must be
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