Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture
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Product Description
The twenty-first century is gridlocked. Mass motorisation has ruptured community ties, bankrupted a nation of family shops, and bred a nation of obese children and adults. Politicians stumble from one transport crisis to the next. Lynn Sloman proposes a novel way forward - not through the big-bang civil engineering projects, but by getting people to think about their choices, rather than reaching for their car keys. She shows how de-motorisation works: in place of traffic, it offers neighbourly streets and vibrant city centres. Copenhagenis decision to createpedestrian streets in the city centre has made it an outdoor theatre, filled with celebration and spectacle even in winter. From small towns like Langenlois in Austria, to the centre of London, de-motorisation is transforming urban surroundings. We do not need to get rid of cars altogether. What we do need is to change the way we think about travel. Car Sick is a passionate, well-argued case for moving away from a car-centred to a people-centred society.
About the Author
Lynn Sloman was Assistant Director of the environmental pressure group Transport 2000 for ten years until 2002. She now runs a sustainable transport consultancy, Transport for Quality of Life, helping the government, local councils and voluntary groups find ways to cut traffic. She is an advisor on the Board of Transport for London, a Visiting Fellow at University of Westminster Transport Studies Group, and a member of the National Cycling Strategy Board. She lives in rural mid-Walesowithout a car
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
SUAVE INTRODUCTION TO CAR DEBATE,
By Andrew Gordon (Haddenham, Bucks) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture (Paperback)
Readers should not be deterred by the in-yer-face title This is a thoughtful and agreeably written book by someone who has looked at the successful efforts of a number of European towns to move to a less car-dependent culture and now convincingly shows that the import of some of these ideas into Britain could greatly improve everyday life for all of us.
The problem for transport dreamers, I mean thinkers, is always how we get from here to there via democratic processes. Lynn Sloman shows that change can be brought about by a lot of little steps over many years, perhaps a generation or more. But that has to be in the context of a change (even a reversal) in the preponderance of public attitudes, such as has already been achieved, for example, in regard to smoking and drink-driving. But the challenge is greater in the UK than in continental Europe because of the late start and deeply entrenched attitudes not only among the general public (think Clarkson) but in the government and civil service. The story of the author's encounter with senior officials at the Department for Transport, obsessed with large projects and the implications for UK Plc, is perhaps the most entertaining (if lamentable) passage in this highly readable book. Car Sick is a valuable contribution to what promises to be a very long campaign. The combination of deep research and moderate language is particularly appealing: Lynn Sloman accepts a continuing role for cars and skilfully avoids the trap of polarisation. What we now need is a national debate with a view to re-orienting the public's perception of cars and car culture. Whether this can be managed without strife between pro-car and anti-car factions remains to be seen, but the risk will be minimised if this book is taken as the starting point.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling, evidence based solutions,
By GreyBrother (Cambridge) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture (Kindle Edition)
This is a fascinating and informative book by someone who has a wealth of knowledge about transport policy and its effects. It draws on the author's wide experience, particularly of continental European cities where strategic planning over a number of years has delivered real benefits in terms of reclaiming streets for families and communities. It is particularly good on where UK transport policy has gone wrong since WW2 and the relatively simple things that could be done to improve it.
There are some very interesting facts presented, for example: 1. Research shows that road building and road widening has simply created more car traffic, but planners don't like to admit this. 2. Creating pedestrianised areas in town centres actually increases the volume of business for shops, rather than decreases it. 3. The high numbers of people using bicycles and public transport in Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands is not some cultural, geographic or cultural freak event - it is purely the result of a sustained 40 year period of planning and implementing transport improvements. It could be done anywhere. Above all, this book makes a strong case for why we should reduce the volume of cars on our roads, not to make life difficult for people, but to make life less polluted, less stressful, more pleasant, more sociable, more healthy, more family friendly and more enjoyable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Should be required reading for traffic planners,
By
This review is from: Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture (Paperback)
As one of the other reviewers pointed out, the strangely provocative title could give a misleading impression of the tone of the book. Be reassured that from the start this is a realistic, broad and well thought out exploration of how and why we should reduce our dependence on cars. Citing examples from Australia to her own village in rural Wales, the author peppers the book with useful and interesting case studies of transport policies and how entrenched habits have been eroded over time.
I'll extend the title of this review to say that the book should be required reading not just for traffic planners, but also local government officials and environmental campaigners who can each be guilty of stubborn or romantic rhetoric. The lessons from 'Car Sick' could be a strong mediation tool and get us moving towards a more humane and balanced approach to transport.
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