This post is due by Tuesday, October 8 @ midnight. No credit given for late posts.
Read the assigned chapters above, and then:
1. Provide 3 SPECIFIC observations about Cars, Culture and Media you learned from EACH chapter of our book, using 2-3 sentences combining the book and your own IYOW analysis. (Yes, the Introduction counts.)
2. Finally, ask ONE specific question you have of Cars, Culture and Media after completing our reading.
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ReplyDeleteCHAPTER 8
ReplyDeleteCars: I knew cars were dangerous and harmful to the environment, but I wasn't fully aware of how hazardous they are to human health. What got my attention was the data on the "new car smell", how it can cause liver toxicity and early puberty just to name a few. Is that smell something they spray in the car? If so, how is it still legal if it directly harms people? I'd rather have my car smell terrible than have it be toxic. The issue of off-gasisng is also pretty terrifying. Our cars are essentially incubators of toxic gas. I wasn't so surprised to read that 50% of air pollution can be accredited to cars. I wonder what the rest of that mix is comprised of? (probably factories, other transportation, warfare).
Culture: As sad as it is, obesity in the U.S. has become part of our culture. The authors outline how cars play into this culture of obesity. "Our built environment and the transportation infrastructure has put a premium on speed and fostered the idea that convenience and efficiency should rule as we make our way through the day." Something I never thought about is how the heavier you are, the more gas is needed to transport that weight. Americans weigh on average 24 pounds more than in 1960. That's creates the need for an additional 39 million gallons of gas annually…just because we are heavier than we were in the past. The car culture of convenience has led to a culture of obesity which in turn has lead to more consumption, pollution, unhappiness, ect.
Media: The faith that car drivers, passengers, and enthusiasts have in the car industry is astounding. According to the authors, an internet poll conducted in 2003 "showed that car buyers believe that if corporations market an auto or an option, and the government permits it, then the product is probably". That pretty much means that car buyers will believe anything they read. Big corporations and the government are probably the most corrupt and misguided institutions out there, but we still take their word for it because they have money and power.
CHAPTER 9
Cars: This chapter talks about how cars have been transformed from the simple idea of mobility and freedom to that of a "lifeboat". Cars today are so much more than just transportation, they are societal crutches. The push of a button can send emergency help or provide directions to the nearest fast food restaurant. We can even talk to our cars now.
Culture: On page 181, the authors talk about how as a nation, we are nearly three times more likely to be killed in a car crash than by anything else. 112 people die a day in the U.S. because of cars. They go on to discuss "how distorted our perceptions of risk can be." Part of the reason people don't see the danger in cars is because our culture doesn't like to pay attention to things that seem common, we like excitement and "big" news (like a plane crash". I'd like to see information on car related deaths from other countries too. What is it about our culture that leads to so many car deaths?
Media: I found the media events surrounding a cars release interesting. When "pitching a car", the companies have to use many of the persuasive media techniques we have discussed in class. With the Traverse, they showed how a competitors model couldn't fit as many golf clubs or other gear as the Traverse. That is a form of diversion, because the impressive cargo room diverts attention away from the Traverse's terrible 17 mpg. Diversion is incredibly common with car advertising. All the new fancy features are usually compensating for less attractive features.
CONCLUSION
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion talks about what needs to be done in the car industry to actually make meaningful change.
CARS: While it isn't likely that people will immediately stop driving or give up the freedoms of automobility, what the authors suggest is a more balanced transit system. They credit Portland, Oregon as a model and discuss how the city has transformed land use policies by investing in streetcar and light rail systems that lead to less driving.
Culture: The authors argue that we must also change our attitudes and culture if we wish to better our future. They say that change is "achievable through a twofold approach: reducing our individual dependency while increasing our collective awareness." The issues facing our country are deeply social, so we as a people need to change if we wish to progress in other sectors. The chapter provides helpful tips to help us transform our mindsets. Tips include: keeping a car diary to monitor car use and purpose, sell or donate your second or third car, or use a car-sharing system. The authors understand that people need and want cars, so I think it is incredibly helpful that they provide these tips. The only thing I wonder about is the audience that is reading this book. I feel like the people that need these tips are not reading this book. I guess it becomes our duty to pass along the knowledge.
Media: Since culture and media are basically intertwined in our nation, a complete overhaul of the media needs to occur to make change. Page 208 states that "The current system is dominated by the most powerful corporations on the planet-the oil and car companies". Since these two corporations are so powerful, they have an incredible influence on people. To quote Spiderman, "with great power comes great responsibility". Our country needs a much more responsibly media, one that isn't driven by money but driven by goodwill.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 8:
ReplyDelete- Lutz and Fernandez open chapter 8 with an explanation of the various ways in which automobility negatively affects human health; air pollution and lack of movement when operating a vehicle contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. I find it surprising that the general public often fails to acknowledge these detriments to human health. Even in the contemporary hybrid and electric car boom period, environmental health is often supersedes human wellbeing. Moreover, Cotton Seiller thoroughly explored the liberating and imprisoning facets of automobility, but failed to draw adequate attention to negative health affects of car culture.
- In some places such as Atlanta, Georgia, however, the pollution that is largely caused by automobiles is often undeniable. A testimonial given by a native who enjoys exercising outdoors says that pollution in the city makes breathing a burden. So much so, that even walking can become a respiratory challenge. Parents must also decide when it is safe to let their children play outside… Car culture in these situations seems completely backwards; surely convenience should be subsidiary to human health. (171)
- There may be a light at the end of the smoggy tunnel, as many environmental groups are advocating for more stringent pollution standards. The public opinion in regard to these groups is often that they only support an environmental agenda. On the contrary, much of their lobbying is grounded in a defense of human health. A shift that is likely to occur in the 20th century will be an increase in public transport and bike infrastructure, if these environmentalists can lobby successfully. It will be interesting to see if the current car culture is embodied in these other forms of transportation, or whether a new culture will emerge. (174).
Chapter 9
ReplyDelete- On page 181, Lutz and Fernandez inform the reader that over 40,000 people die each year from car crashes in the United States alone, which amounts to 112 people per day. The paragraph goes on to state that our fears and “risk perceptions” are often misguided and skewed; driving poses one of the greatest threats to American safety, but typically does not rank as a major fear among drivers. This demonstrates how entrenched we are in car culture. Personally, I am much more afraid of planes and the possibility of a plane crash than I am of cars and the possibility of a car crash. Although I agree with the authors that these fears may be somewhat unfounded, people spend way more time in cars than planes, and also have a greater sense of agency in a car. These two points definitely affect risk perceptions.
- Often times car crashes are reduced to number values and statistics (as I have done above). Consuming information in this manner leads to an apathetic response to such tragedies, and causes the long lasting, often permanent negative side affects to be overlooked. For instance, on pages 189-190 the authors note that individuals, families, and friend groups are at risk of deteriorating after a devastating crash. Unfortunately, automobility often scapegoats other influences, such as alcohol and texting, to keep car culture blemish free. Although such practices due increase the likelihood of a crash, the fact of the matter is that driving cars is an undeniably dangerous activity.
- Part of the failure to mention the negative human-health affects caused by automobiles (mentioned in chapter 8) can be attributed to successful advertising. On page 195 a Lexus advertisement is summarized; the ad boasts a filter that is able to extract environmental toxins that cause human allergies. The ad obviously fails to mention the much more dangerous, often carcinogenic toxins that are found within vehicles. This demonstrates a BIG LIE and role reversal, as well as a capitalistic culture that has opted not to employ the precautionary principle.
Chapter 10:
- Judging by the movement of Americans to cities with better public transit, and policies enacted or proposed by the Obama administration, car culture appears to be heading down a safer, healthier, shared path. If these beneficial predictions come true, automobility may again exemplify a means of liberation and personal agency, as it has in the past.
- An especially interesting twist to the culture of automobility is the car-sharing system mentioned on page 212. Members of such a scheme are able to use a car when needed, but do not have to deal with the insurance, maintenance, and gas, as these costs are accounted for in the customer’s payments. This type of sharing scheme will alleviate some of the restrictive factors associated with automobility, also revivifying its notions of liberation.
- On page 219, Fernandez and Lutz make note of US states and parents organizations that are requiring teens to wait a bit longer to drive. This has arisen out of the large number of car crashes for the teenage demographic. Although human life many human lives are likely to be preserved from such restrictions, the ubiquitous American coming of age experience will be altered from years past.
- Q: If car culture continues to change in the aforementioned ways, what form will the popular coming of age experience take on?
Ch.8
ReplyDelete"Cars have also helped fuel the growth of the calorie-packing fast food industry...When she succumbs to the temptations of fast food on the road, she takes care to hide the evidence from her husband..."(p.163). Our car centric society tends to create ideals which are hard to reach, and then chastises those who don't fit the ideal. Cars are becoming very expensive, yet we increasingly can't afford them. At the same, not having a car or taking public transport is viewed as bad, because it's low class. In the same way here, car culture promotes bad food, yet we chastise people who eat it, many of whom "often eat alone...to deal with the shame attached to eating food we know isn't' good for us" (p.163).
"The health hammer comes down most heavily on people living within 150 to 500 yards of major roads, although some studies find these cancer corridors can be as wide as a mile on either side" (p.167) That's a lot of people. And this figure is especially startling when combined with the fact that "There is no spot in the lower 48 of the United States more than 22 miles from the nearest road, outside of some unbuildable swampland in southern Louisiana" (p.6). Furthermore, given that most people live in "sprawl" type communities, and are by necessity near roadways, it becomes even more frightening.
"They typical location [for air intake valves] is such that the most concentrated toxic gases from the tailpipe of the car in front of you in heavy traffic tend to flow straight into your intake valve" (p.169). I've never thought about this. Looking back now, I seemed to have some peripheral notion that the tailpipe vented toxins away from me, but I've never thought about being directly in the exhaust of the car in front of me. I also have always had the notion that I'm protected inside of my car.
Ch. 9
"As a nation, we are nearly three times more likely to be killed in a car crash than by homicide, and our children face no greater risk of dying from any cause, accidental or disease-related" (p.181). Our perception of risk is skewed. We see all kinds of anti-drug campaigns, healthier living campaigns, all kinds of things to keep us healthy, but we almost never see car safety ads beyond the ones dealing with wearing seat belts and hanging up the phone. We never think about how exposed we are on the road. How many anti-cigarette advertisements are there? How many anti-car advertisements?
"Risk compensation means that people drive less safely when they feel safer in their cars. So having air bags and antilock breaks persuades people to drive faster, follow other cars more closely, and change lanes more often..." (p.193). Given more safety features in a car, a person will feel like the cars will actively do more to protect them. More safety features, which are designed not as fail safes, but as mechanisms to assist the driver. However, people tend to think these features automatically protect them. It becomes less safe because it causes people to operate cars in a less safe manner.
ReplyDelete"...And the other half have been in an accident, and really realized that it's- you get one chance, why not get the safer car and options?" (p.201). It is strange given the statistic of a 1 in 5 chance of crashing safety only comes as options. How is it that safety features cost extra, or that some vehicles are safer than others? Maybe car companies can get away with it because, "car people encounter a great deal of indifference to car dangers...'people just don't care! You start to go through safety stuff, and they don't' care!" (p.201).
Ch. 10
"You could find you are reintroducing yourself to old friends and neighbors and improving your social life simply by walking more often through the neighborhood" (p.218). I find this especially true of bikes. Where ever I ride my bike, I always get talking to other bikers, simply because we are on bikes. And hanging out with people who bike causes you to bike more. It is a positive feedback cycle.
"Set your cruise control at the speed limit."(p.221) This is my favorite tactic for long road trips where I'm going the same speed for a long time, and where I won't know where the cops are hiding. Ironic, that the thing that grants me so much freedom has this self-regulating feature, which keeps me in check. It is like self-imposed regulation. I don't want to get pulled over, so I use this device to make sure I don't go too fast.
"We can be healthier and wealthier, with some leisure and family time, and be better environmental citizens" (p.208). A nod to the famous Franklin quote, "early to bed early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise." Interesting that we wouldn't want to be healthier and wealthier, and wiser. Lutz makes the point that cars have helped us to become considerably less wealthy, what makes her now, after her entire book on how we are seduced into spending money on cars, would we not also want to be wiser? How, with a wealthier clean slate, can we prevent ourselves from similar perils? Perhaps we if we really want change, we will need to do more than this checklist of reform. We will need to shift our values altogether. So my question is, is healthier and wealthier really what we want to be or something else, like closer as communities and more efficient?
Chapter 8:
ReplyDeleteCars: Cars can be found as part of the reason for a lot of our health problems. They reduce our activity level, make access to unhealthy fast food more easy and acceptable, take up our free time for healthy activities, and spew toxic fumes into our air.
Culture: Because we can drive places easily, it makes walking less appealing. As walking becomes less and less appealing, a long walk becomes shorter and shorter, until we can rationalize almost anywhere as too far to walk. Our sprawling neighborhoods are no longer places we want to walk.
Media: Because of our unhealthy use of the car, it is no longer safe for non car users to enjoy the air outside. Media sources are used to tell people when days are clean or not, to suggest less outdoor activity in times of worse conditions.
Chapter 9:
Cars: Cars, trucks, and SUVs are the major civilian vehicles on the road today. They each have their own flaws, be it space, gas mileage, or size. SUVs and trucks have had increasingly large front grills, that make it so hit pedestrians are more likely to be tossed under and swallowed by an oncoming car, rather than pushed less harmfully into the impact absorbent windshield.
Culture: Cars have always been viewed as dangerous to drivers; they used to be hard to control, now they are a threat to each other. Some cars are getting bigger and taller, putting the smaller cars on the road in positions of danger. Bumpers that used to hit each other now can be found at different heights. SUVs with their top heavy design, can roll easily.
Media: SUVs are a huge problem in the US. Bigger than normal cars, more gas spewing too, they cause major headaches and heartbreaks as they drive around. Some advertisements depict them as tanks going into battle, as a sign that they will be able to protect your loved ones, and show you rule the road.
Chapter 11:
Cars: Buy a car that suits your basic needs, and then rent for extranormal activities. Buy an electric if you mainly use it for work. And don't think first to drive, use as a last resort.
Culture: Help develop a culture of walkability, bike friendly, and carpooling people. All of these things reduce stress, and help you be social, and healthy.
Media: Think hard about what you want when buying a car, don't base your decision on gut impulses. Don't think you need to trade your car in now because a new model came out. Its fiscally irresponsible!
Chapter Eight: Getting Carsick
ReplyDelete“ We would never buy an outfit, no matter how deceptively slimming, that actually caused us to put on weight. And yet our cars, which we buy in part based on how they look and how they make us look, are causing us to pack on pounds.” (162)
I think this quote really demonstrates the materialistic value and desire to express oneselves as we’ve repeatedly seen this pattern through American Graffiti, and the desire for self curation, but I think it’s a key point that the more we like to express ourselves via our transportation the more we’re likely to drive it around, for the minutest of tasks. “In past two decades the number of trips americans take on foot has declined 42 percent.” I thought in addition is was interesting how it points out that owning a car makes short walks seem long, in comparison to driving. I think society has created an unhealthy trend in our response to driving, which could work for us if we were to use things like mo-peds, bikes, or electric vehicles as forms of self expression, but we’re a society still stuck in big and bold forms of expression, we must reverse this.
“Car culture has put a premium on speed and fostered the idea that convenience and efficiency should rule as we make our way through the day.” (163) I thought the ideas on the fast food industry were quite interesting. “Now, our stomachs are subject to fill-ups more frequently than our gas tanks as we motor past the ubiquitous foodmongers hawking their wares along the highway.” (163). Cars have been the leading cause of how we add infrastructure to the world and have we’ve developed and “sprawled.” The car was the reason for motels, and hotels as people started driving farther distance, and with that they needed food, fast. Which created this whole new idea of the fast food industry and this combined unhealthiness of fast food and driving, which do not compliment each other well, and surrounded by the idea of efficiency. It’s a societal issue.
“Environmental groups who have been campaigning for higher emissions standards and less car dependence are not trying so much to save the spotted owl as the human being.” (175) I thought this was very appealing quote because it’s our reality, though we don’t see it. In nature we hear and see extinctions of species struggling to stay alive with the change of our environment, we see visuals of ice caps melting, but what we can’t see is our own species nearing extinction. I think society turns the other way when it’s other species and other objects facing extinction, but while we can’t see ourselves in this moment changing, our future is. Look at cancer rates, which have quite evidently increased through the years, but what’s scary is we can physically see the toxins entering our bodies, but everyday we produce and release them into the world for these invisible diseases to fuel off of. I think society needs a major wake up call to understand how impacted they are.
Chapter 9:
ReplyDeleteCar/Media: “When nearly one-fifth of the nation’s major roads are categorized as poor or mediocre,and when excessive speed is the primary cause of crashes, this is a not insignificant contradiction.” (179) I found this quote rather shocking about cars and car infrastructure, I never knew it was a number so high. But what was most interesting was the quote that followed, “the focus on safer cars and highways has encouraged riskier driver behavior, the result of which is called, “risk conpensation.’” (193) While industries are attempting to create safer vehicles and promote this in advertisement, what they’re not addressing is the way people choose to drive, especially if false advertisement thinks they’re essentially driving in a impenetrable vehicle, this will encourage them to test the limits and not see their safety at risk. I think society needs to advertise more information about the way we drive, then what we’re driving.
“Cars would still be the most deadliest factor in most of our environments...and our children face no greater risk of dying from any cause, accidental or disease related.” (181). Another shocking statistic. I immediately thought about the recent news of the woman that drove her car into the white house, with a baby in the back. While this is somehow irrevelent, I think its important to note that her car must have felt like her safety shield, even if it didn’t turn out that way. Car’s are again, a way of expression, in style and in attitude. It’s deadly for us and our environment. It’s hard to think with all the deaths we see on the news, or close relations from car accidents, society hasn’t been impacted enough emotionally to create change.
“Mr. Selditz sells car safety devices, including a small black box that monitors driver behavior by cataloging excessive speeds, aggressive acceleration, abrupt braking, and high speed turns.” (197) I thought this was a great example of technological improvements to better our safety on the road, especially in teens or are experimenting with self expression, especially in the way they choose to drive, and especially to add to this cultural shift of giving teens cars immediately upon receiving their license thats occurring in society now. “Does society need to pay you to protect your child?” (198) I think it starts with the parents control. This project was funded from state money, the school bought the boxes, and would give it free to parents, yet only 35 did... I think this makes a huge statement in parental control and the need to inform parents.
Chapter 10:
ReplyDelete“Keep a car diary to check in on how often you use your cars and what you use them for.” (209) I thought this was a great idea, I can only count the times where I’ve driven multiple places in one day and didn’t even realize it. Recording the time it takes, trips that could have been combined, and carpooling are key ways to becoming a thoughtful driver. I think it’s far to easy to and routine to just hop and your car and even forget at the end of the day where you’ve driven, or when you’re filling up the pump and asking yourself, where did all that gas go? I think a journal would be a great way to address the issue, and having it in writing is proof to yourself the issue at hand.
“These companies make it incredibly easy to get a car, even on a moment’s notice... the company, not you, maintains the car, fills the tank, and pays for insurance.” (212) I also loved the car share idea, its.so.simple!!! But why is it so challenging for people to want to use them. I think while it seems so simple, it’s even simpler of the convenience of having your car in you driveway, steps away from you at any moment you need it. The key think about car shares, they work the same way. It’s always available to you, but it’s not parked right in your driveway. Everyone chooses to live simply, what makes me sad is the efforts people in to help society change and have options, but people aren’t recognizing them, and also how the car makes society such an unconnected place. Public transit, carpooling, even biking, takes the literally and figurative walls down and opens up a community.
“Teach your children the importance of exercise, responsibility, independence, and/or ecological citizenship - take your pick - by walking or biking to activities.” (218) I think a major reason why I choose to study environmental studies as I entered college, why I bike around this town and not own a car, come from the way I was raised. Showing children at a young age how easy, fun and convenient a bike can be carries over into adulthood, it may even be that element of nostalgia we take about in relation to the brain. Parents and nurture have a huge impact of how we’re shaping children for the future.
Question: I thought the conclusion was strong, sometimes its challenging to read and learn about all the negative aspects to a subject without feeling a way to alter the issue, but the conclusion wrapped it up well with many answers. While we have these answers, and have had them for many years, what will it take for society to address them and implement them?
Chapter 8:
ReplyDeleteCulture: “Now, our stomachs are subject to fill-ups more frequently than our gas tanks as we motor past the ubiquitous food mongers hawking their wares along the highway. “ (p. 163) Our car culture has paved the way for the fast food industry. As we have seen in “American Grafitti,” cars and eating have become intertwined with one another. Going on road trips, there are hundreds of fast food chains along the way that offer high-calorie, non-nutritious foods. It is no surprise that cars are promoting obesity in our country.
Media: “Lexus blames the victim—suggesting that the environment is attacking cars, rather than the other way around.” (p.165) Car companies advertise high tech systems of air filtration systems and all of these other safety features, when in reality they do very little for our health. The air purifying systems installed in cars have little if any benefit. The authors say that instead of worrying about what is entering your vents from the outside of your car, you should be more worried about the toxins inside your car. We all love that “new car smell,” but majority of us do not realize the amount of toxins automakers use inside your car. I have definitely seen ads and car salesmen promoting that “new car smell,” but they never tell me that smell is what will give me cancer a few years down the line. How messed up?
Cars: “Cars affect our national and individual health in significant but invisible ways. “ (p.161) I never really realized the health effects cars have on us. Cars have been linked to cause asthma, heart disease, cancer, and obesity. In majority of this book and other media platforms, we rarely see the negative sides of cars. I find it interesting how we continue to drive, despite these health risks.
Chapter 9:
Media: “If cars were once sold primarily as the route to freedom, they are now as much marketed as the lifeboat in a sea of carjackings, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks.” (p. 179) Our cars have this illusion of safety. Car companies jam pack our cars with “safety features,” such as antilock brakes, air bags, and seat belts, and the media promotes these features to make the car appear safe. With the safety messages promoted through countless ad campaigns and commercials, we have become too reliant on our cars to protect us, when ironically are one of the leading causes of death in the U.S.
Cars: “As a nation, we are nearly three times more likely to be killed in a car crash than by homicide, and our children face no greater risk of dying from any cause, accidental or disease-related.” (p.181) Cars are described as the epitome of our freedom and a symbol of our individuality, not a fully loaded death trap. Cars seem like public enemy number one, but we still continue to drive them and car related deaths have become the norm. Does the convenience of having a car really trump the mortality rate of our population? Questions: Our cars are portrayed in the media to be safe, yet if they are so safe, why are cars taking so many lives? What would happen if these statistics were put in car advertisements? Would people still buy and drive these cars?
Culture: “Americans thereafter would come to rely on car engineers to keep them safe; they expected scientists to make it, as crazy as it sounds, “safe to crash.” (p. 195) As a society, we have put way to much faith in our cars, engineers, and policy makers to keep us safe on the road. In this chapter, the authors provide concrete facts that cars are single handedly responsible for millions of deaths around the country. Instead of looking at ourselves to blame, we look at how the car can be improved and what policies can be enacted to keep us safe on the road, that we will eventually fight later on.
Chapter 10:
ReplyDeleteCulture: “Even if we agree that our car dependency threatens the values we cherish, we don’t want to give up our vehicles. That is an option that most Americans find repugnant and unrealistic.” (p. 207) Cars have become embedded in our culture giving us freedom, convenience, and a way to escape. Cars have given us this freedom for over 100 years and to try and cut them out of society now, will be no easy feat. The authors of this book are optimistic and believe it is possible to change our car culture by reducing our overall dependency on vehicles, as well as creating more alternatives for travel.
Media: “Avoid being swayed by car advertising, which as we have seen often appeals to emotions, including fear, that can limit the factors that we should consider when buying—in fact, turning the channel or page on car ads is a healthy idea.” (p.213) Car advertisements are designed to turn off our rational thinking and what we think we need in a car is influenced by what we see. In order to make smarter car purchases in the future, it’s better to ignore these advertisements and buy a car that you actually need without outside influences.
Cars: “…the car is deeply intertwined with issues of environmental health, social justice, and quality of life.” (p.224) A car is no longer just a symbol of freedom and autonomy, but has all of these negative characteristics that are just brushed under the rug. This book brings to light multiple issues that cars bring from issues of global warming, to asthma and death, to social inequalities among drivers. Cars have a huge influence in our world and I find it interesting with all these negative aspects that have come to light, we still choose to buy cars and drive them around. There has to be a better solution out there that can transport us from point A to point B that takes into account our social, environmental, and our personal health.
Chapter Eight
ReplyDeleteChapter eight starts with themes of health in a way that stresses the negative externalities of driving. Meaning that while not everyone drives, everyone suffers the health consequences of people driving. This is also a theme presented in the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car.” This theme of airborne pollution thus has been presented through two different mediums.
The section from page 162 through page 165 describes the correlation between unnecessary driving and obesity. There also additional health concerns that result from obesity, which in turn lead to more driving. A combination of inadequate infrastructure, lack of exercise and convenience all contribute to this trend, which has effects on American culture and media.
This chapter ends with a description of the image of strapping a child into a carseat. The author describes this act as a loving one, which would be targeting the emotions of the limbic brain. This image is very common in minivan adds, and I never really thought about it until now.
Chapter Nine
The section, “Wounded Veterans of the Road” contains traumatic accounts of car accidents. While this is not entirely relevant to cars, culture, or media (the story is also a serious downer), when I was in physical rehab my roommate was a victim of a car accident. At the age of 22 he was in the backseat of a Jeep Wrangler when it fell of the road on a turn, throwing all the passengers out (except himself, he was wearing a seatbelt). My roommate had a broken spine and arm, while his three other friends all died.
On page 193 the author states essentially that despite accidents going down on regular streets, they have stagnated on the highways. One of the reasons is that high safety standards incentivize risky behavior. The author calls this phenomenon risk compensation, which can also be called perverse incentivizes both of which fall under the law of unintended consequences. This illustrates how promising legislation can actually produce neutral or even negative results.
On page 199 the author mentions the reptilian brain. This was in reference to SUV advertisements appealing to the fight instinct that people still possess in this area of the brain. This is definitely relevant to class because appeal in advertisements to the reptilian brain has been a theme for much of the semester this far.
Conclusion
From page 207-209 the author suggests a cultural shift can counteract the negative outcomes of car culture. I found the quote, “We can be healthier and wealthier, with more leisure and family time, and be better environmental citizens,” to be particularly powerful. With grassroots efforts a difference can be made.
On page 213 the author warns against being convinced by misleading advertising of automobiles. She stresses that their advertising appeals to the subconscious brain, which can trump the real priorities of the conscious one. Like the previous mention of the reptilian brain this is a common occurrence in class and is observed through media like American Graffiti and Ride Wit Me.
On pages 217-218 the author urges people to shop on the Internet. By this she wants people to utilize services like Peapod to lower the amount of drive time. This is utilizing a technology shift to consume products in a more efficient manner.
Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteCar: On page 166 Lutz lists all the chemicals that come with the “new car smell.” This little insight of hers has me terrified to breathe in my car now. All those chemicals that are already in the car and then those associated with driving, the car no longer seems like a safe place to be in for long periods of time. It really makes you reconsider your transportation options.
Culture: At the beginning of chapter 8 (p. 162) Lutz illustrates that people are using their cars for short distance trips because to the driver it is more sensible. Sadly even I have fallen into this trend at home because it just seems easier. This is such a common part of our culture and is certainly a major contributor to obesity which is another American characteristic.
Media: On page 171 a woman in a city discusses running with smog and having to check a website to see what times smog is lowest. In this sense the media is very helpful in areas where smog is a big problem. Advertising high smog times and low smog times certainly helps people who want to be outside have a more enjoyable time, but it is sad knowing they cannot just walk out their door at any time and breathe fresh air.
Chapter 9
Car: “As a nation, we are nearly three times more likely to be killed in a car crash than by homicide and our children face no greater risk of dying from any cause, accidental or disease-related” (p.181). The car has been such a big gift to society and families idolize their cars and it’s a way to link people together, but in reality it can be humanities biggest killer. This is very scary.
Culture: On page 189 and for several pages after Lutz discusses the tragedies families go through when a loved one is killed in a crash. I find it ironic that with so many lives lost we still get into these death contraptions every day and rely so heavily on them. It just goes to show how big of a part of our culture they really are.
Media: Right at the beginning of the chapter, page 178, Lutz describes reporters meetings with Chevy and GM advocates for advertising their latest cars. I found it interesting that they let reporters test out the cars and do all these things to test its capabilities. This is risky because a bad review could come about, but I didn’t think anything like this would happen, especially when it could be publicized by these drivers in the media.
Chapter 10
Car: “1/5 of cars emissions are in the production process” (p. 213). This is a very intimidating fact, especially when knowing that there are more cars than licensed drivers! It just makes me question if production of cars is really worth it each year, when there are enough old ones to go around and emissions could be cut drastically.
Culture: On page 219 it was discussed to move the licensed age higher. Our culture is so accustomed to have 16 be a rite of passage and getting your license that to shift this I feel it is too big of a paradigm to change. Culture is a hard thing to implement change in, and with cars being so dominant in our American culture, I feel little change can be made there.
Media: The media piece that I found most interesting was on page 205 when the author discusses the Henry Ford Museum. Here people can see cars as history progresses. This is an excellent piece of media that informs the public of how automobiles have become such a large part of our lives, and how high tech they are now. I feel like it is important to have histories like this especially for in the future if cars no longer exist, it will hopefully discourage future generations to avoid oil and to find renewable sources. If cars crash with oil, we don’t want history to repeat itself.
Question: So the author provides the reader with a checklist at the end of the book for better car buying practices and driving practices, however, with the car culture already set in place and so strong in society, is it even possible at this point to implement change?
Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteCulture: It prompts the urge to circle a parking lot seeking a “better” parking space to reduce the few steps into the grocery store or the office.” Our culture is obsessed with convenience. Even if you are a perfectly healthy person and capable of walking the entire distance of the parking lot we still see it as a complete inconvenience. Cars make it too easy to become lazy.
Media: “… Established that the level of volatile organic compounds, or VOC’s, is up to ten times higher inside our vehicles than ambient levels.” Car companies clearly just put these in the car to appear as if being in your car is safer for you than to be exposed to the environment, using a clever symbol to cover up the truth and keep the average person from asking questions.
Cars: It’s so scary the amount of health impacts our driving habits have caused to our health and peoples health around the world. When I think of pollution caused by cars I think of gas emissions. I never stopped to think about things like chemicals used to make the car or that “new car smell” affecting our health. Cars have created an air we no longer want to breath and our mind set is to keep creating more cars with new features to “protect” us from the outside…it’s a vicious cycle. “it will also help when it is recognized that wealth does not allow people to escape breathing the air.
Chapter 9
Cars: “Cars would still be the deadliest factor in most of our environments.” Even though the facts are there and thousands of people die each year, driving is such a normal routinely process in our lives now that we aren’t stopping to question all the risks involved. We have clearly fallen for the car companies’ tricks and allusions to make cars “safer” when in reality they have become more dangerous.
Culture: “America’s emergency rooms and the rest of the health system in which car crash victims receive care are increasingly under great financial stress.” “But then 9/11 happened, and since then all the money has gone into medical equipment to sit in warehouses waiting for a terror attack.” This again shows how our perception of risk is so skewed. No one is putting emphasis on this ongoing crisis. We are putting more money into an anticipated crisis rather than dealing with the one at hand.
Media: “More confident and thus more dangerous driving widens the safety gaps that new safety equipment has narrowed.” This immediately made me think of the new cars that have the safety feature of detecting objects close to you and can apply the breaks for you if an emergency is detected. This makes people feel like they can just rely on their car to react for them, maybe pushing the boundaries more than they would without that feature, making them more dangerous on the road. Completely defeating the point of the “safety” features in the first place.
ReplyDeleteChapter 10 conclusion:
Media: “There are many specific, immediate actions that individuals and families can take to reduce their reliance on the automobile and lower the price we are all paying.” Because the system is being dominated by the oil and car companies, I think making changes at the personal and household level is the best place for us to start. We just need to become more aware of why and when we use our car, allowing us to identify the things we can do without using our cars to get us there. And start ignoring the advertisements being fed to us by these companies saying that their products can solve the solution.
Culture: “Compute your household car costs and decide whether you really want to be spending that much.” Like we have learned in previous chapters many people just consider the initial cost of the car and gas prices, forgetting about the thousands of other dollars it takes to keep your car running. Once it’s laid out and people start to recognize the amount of money they are spending each day just to drive their car, their decision making when it comes to driving or not might start to change.
Cars: This conclusion is all about different changes that can and should be made in the car industry and our car culture. There needs to be a shift in the way we view traveling and a larger demand for a diverse transportation system, allowing us to use public transportation with ease, weaning us off our car convenience obsession. “Transit policy changes can be the centerpiece of economic recovery and a new environmental stewardship.”
Cleopatra Doley
ReplyDelete8.
-“Carsickness” is a huge deterrent from the car. People are literally unable to drive because of their sickness. The car affects our health, yet majority of us are still forced to drive in order to participate in modern society, and keep a job or social life.
- We could make the choice to not own a car, however, the cars around us would still affect our health, and our bodies. All these health affects encourage people to not own cars, and asthma, heart disease, and cancer, are a big deal! But car culture is very now oriented, if sickness doesn’t happen right away, we’re not very motivated to stop driving cars right away (or ever.)
- The health impacts of cars are immense. Luckily with groups like Public Citizen and The Ecology Center, I feel like car companies are going to be more responsible for the health issues they give to the people. But I do hope stricter government regulation will actually affect our health in a positive way, instead of just shifting the blame to an actor who won’t do very much.
9
- I had no idea cars were the #1 cause of death. That’s interesting. As the death toll goes up, car companies need to make their cars safe “enough” for the public to be convinced to keep buying and purchasing cars. Safety is a concept that needs to be marketed, not actually utilized if cars are generally speedy death machines anyway.
- The impact of a car crash is more immenseness than I would have originally thought before reading this chapter. Understanding the idea that 1 car crash affects so many lives, of those involved, the family and friends of those involved, of cops and firefighters… the car is so imbedded in our culture that our emergency infrastructure surrounds it.
- Car companies are marketing us an unsafe object. We buy these things because ads make us perceive them to be fun, safe, and cool, when in reality they’re not.
10
- Car dependency is a really interesting concept. I mean, working on helping people become less car dependent is a great thing! However, wouldn’t moving into a city with good public transpiration infrastructure do the trick? Being from NYC, car dependency is a foreign concept in my day to day life.
- The “safe to crash” phenomenon is just a marketing construct. The idea that when one watches a commercial, that shows a slow motion crash test, and then a “safe” dummy afterword’s, is just the idea of marketing. It illustrates how companies market safety, even though it seems a bit silly to be “safe to crash”
- I think it’s interesting that he didn’t talk about drunk driving very much. I would have liked him to talk about the culture of cars and how that coincided with alcohol consumption, which leads to deaths in a lot of these scenarios.
11
-Luckily, this chapter gives a lot of options of downsizing! Cars are expensive, I Think selling a car to get a smaller one will save money, and also time. I think if a family have multiple cars, just selling one for a 2 seater, and using that for small trips, makes a lot more sense then having a truck, and a SUV, and what ever other car is deemed “necessary” in a household.
- The family portrait in front of the car illustrates the significance of the car in today’s culture. The car acts as a character that is literally a part of the family, much like a pet, and is included in photos. These photos show the dependency on the car as well.
- I like that this book ended on a positive note. It makes me feel like with whatever car I buy in the future, I can change things directly. I can affect things in a positive matter, even with cars are affecting our society and changing it everyday.
Question: Do more car crashes happen before of “over estimating skills” or from drunk driving?
Chapter 8
ReplyDelete-Lutz mentions on page 162 that "in the past two decades, the number of trips Americans take on foot has declined 42 percent." This statistic is remarkable, yet hardly surprising. Most American towns that are a result of continuing sprawl have been organized around the use of a car. Walkability is only just starting to considered important when planning a community.
-Lutz discusses on page 171 how oil companies added even more toxins to gasoline in order to increase octane ratings, therefore putting profit before public safety. Various companies added highly toxic BTEX compounds in order to increase how much they could charge for a gallon of gasoline. This follows a trend of companies putting their shareholders' happiness above the safety of their consumers.
-Lutz mentions on page 174 that some argue that the abundance of cancer, lung disease, and asthma are an inevitable cost of our modern, autonomous world. These negative aspects of our car culture are not inevitable, but they are almost impossible to avoid based on our current systems. Lutz mentions many strategies in the conclusion of the book detailing how one might help to limit the proliferation of these medical problems.
Chapter 9
-I thought it was interesting that Lutz interpreted the phrase "safe car" as on oxymoron on page 180. Cars are inherently dangerous, as being in or around cars can sometimes lead to an injury. Car manufacturers have to focus heavily on safety in research and marketing because they need to counter the fact that traveling quickly in a two ton amalgamation of metal is incredibly dangerous.
-Lutz mentions later on the same page that some advancements in road safety have led to even more accidents. When people feel as though their car or the road they're driving on is very safe, they drop their guard and don't pay as much attention as they should be. The assumption that one is safe can often lead to quite the opposite.
-Lutz brings up the analogy on page 181 that 112 people day on American roads each day, equal to that of a passenger jet. While people tend to disregard or ignore fatal car crashes, the country is often captivated by plane crashes. The 112 people that die in cars each day won't get a mention in the news because they were all likely separate events, but if a plane crash occurs the country focuses on it for weeks after the fact.
Chapter 8
ReplyDeletePage 165: “Fortunately, there are models available for planned communities that build walkability as a criterion…” I wonder how many communities take walkability in as a major priority. With all of the housing developments just plopped down in random places, I find it hard to believe that there is a major concern put in for walkability. Sure, these developments might have a central pool but what about other resources needed for daily life?
Page 171 has an anecdote about going for a run in the city and how one woman would have to stop repeatedly because she experiences lung pains when she does so. I experienced this a little bit on a run this fall, I did a 3 mile run through Burlington and had to stop and walk a few times but when I did a 5K out in Vergennes I was able to just keep running without walking. I didn’t give it much thought at the time but now I think my performance might have been affected by the air quality.
Page 174: “We might demand that the car companies produce zero-emissions and nonpolluting cars, as we already know it’s possible to do.” They can already do this?! I wonder if the restraint to putting these cars to market is more of the pressure the oil companies are putting on the car manufacturers or the fear that these cars might be too expensive to have a large customer base right now. But if these kinds of vehicles are plausible to be put on the road right now then there needs to be an effort to do so.
Chapter 9
Page 180 talks about how by making cars safer, people are practicing riskier driving. I think I am a victim of this as well. When I see a long stretch of straight roadway, I give in to my primal instincts sometimes and hit the gas pedal even harder. Sure, it might not be safe but driving is fun and every once in a while I feel the need to speed.
Page 193: “People regularly crash and walk away from the wreck with nothing worse than a sore neck…” I got into a fender-bender last summer and was lucky enough to have everyone walk away with no ill effects other than some minor damage to our cars. I can only imagine what a similar crash could have resulted in before the implementation of some of the safety measures we now have in cars.
Page 198 talks about the “Grim Reaper Day” that some schools put on before prom, but our school actually has a mock car crash they do instead. They grab a few kids from the senior class to act in the mock car crash and then we have someone come in and speak about their experience with drunk driving. It is a powerful event for many in the crowd and there is even a counseling session offered afterwards for those who need it.
Chapter 10
Page 206: “…highlighting sites of the company’s environmental efforts…include a football field’s worth of factory roof covered in sedum to hold rainwater and help cool the building.” I respect Ford a little bit for making an effort but the company is in the business of screwing up our environment. With every car they make under that roof, they are making a larger negative impact on the climate than whatever benefit the green roof gives them.
The chapter also talks about how people are choosing where they live based on their ability to live without a car. This is something that has come up for me in the closing year of my college career as well. I don’t know where I'm going to end up after I graduate but being in a community where the necessity of having a car is minimal is one of my criteria in my consideration.
In the “Buy Smart” section of the chapter it tells the reader to either buy a hybrid or buy electric. While just getting a used car this summer, I have already started to think about what my next car would be. While that is quite a long time away, I have already made the decision that it will probably be one of these options. The benefits that these cars come with greatly outweigh the downsides and by the time it’s time for me to make my next car purchase, these technologies will be even better.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ReplyDeleteCARS
According to Luts and Fernandez, fast-food and cars go together so well in a vicious cycle that finds us shamefully scarfing Big Macs all alone. It’s interesting how the impulse is to turn inwards into the car, pulling up to drive-though alone instead of seeking a social solution to that problem.
MEDIA
On page 165, Lutz and Fernandez bring up a car commercial that seems to portray the outside air as attacking the protected, cool, allergen-free interior. Ironically, it is the toxicity of cars that has created such a hostile outside environment. And fresh air feels great and all but how many scorching days have we had, windows down, air conditioner up, in utter bliss?
CULTURE
Lutz and Hernandaz paint this picture of a post-apocalyptic world when telling the stories of people that live in particularly smoggy areas who experience the Hollywood esque eeriness of their day-to-day lives. It feels like we’ve grown accustomed to this post-apocalyptic sentiment, beleieving that innovation in science and technology will save us from doom and disease just like some environmental Batman.
CHAPTER NINE
CULTURE
According to Lutz and Fernandez, When dealing with safety regulations on cars “enfocement is part of the safety mix, although mainly this has consisted of enforcement of drunk driving laws.” ( Earlier in the chapter, the authors assert that in when cars were first introduced in the first part of the 20th century, people blamed the drivers and their poor driving skills for incidents like crashes. In this instance, the majority of safety regulations that are enforced are the ones that implicate the driver.
CARS
Luts and Fernandez make the compelling point that increased safety regulations lead to “more confident and thus more dangerous driving” (193). Just because a SmartCar may have airbags and four wheel drive doesn’t mean that it’s still not incredibly dangerous on the freeway.
MEDIA:
At the end of the chapter, Luts and Fernandez point out that “we fail to see the difference between the feeling of safety, and real safety” (203). This reminded me of cars having this roller-coaster kind of safety. We rely on the people that make them to make them safe—we can get our thrill without getting killed because the thing has been built for safety. Sure, accidents happen, but what are the chances of that happening to me, today?
Chapter Ten
CULTURE
Lutz and Fernandez advise the reader to buy electric car as one of the ways to make a difference in the conclusion. I thought it was funny that they mention the GM Volt, and recommend joining the mailing list when GM had an electric car, with an e-mailing list several years ago.
CARS
In addition to going electric, Lutz and Fernandez advise us to opt out of buying SUVs and larger cars to prevent potential crashes and fatalities. Would this advice extend to smaller cars, too?
MEDIA
On page 218, Luts and Fernandez also explain the benefits of online shopping, as it cuts out the middle man, reduces personal driving time, and portends more frugality (no impulse buys, necessarily.) What about the energy spent on the trucks going down each city street, idling, and delivering your package? The authors don’t really go into that impact.
QUESTION
Lutz and Fernandez point to a rosy future of public transit, exemplified by places like Portland and Seattle and claim that “federal funds might be forthcoming for localities that are proactive in pursuing transportational solutions.” Federal money, as well as financial, environmental, health, and moral impacts aside, I wonder if it’s even possible to replace the autonomy and freedom that individual automobility has come to represent in America with a locomotive system that looks so inherently binding to the eyes of a driver.
Chapter 8:
ReplyDeleteCulture: pg. 162-163 After also reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser over the weekend, I can really see how the era of automobility has affected our health not only because of the fumes and chemicals but because it is helping us to validate fast food options and little exercise, making us America: land of the obese and home of the cars.
Media: pg 175 It is funny to me how most people feel so strongly about saving animals or trees when we don’t even care about the wellbeing of each other or even ourselves- this section talks about the need for more education about what cars are doing to our health, and the rising number of campaigns spreading this knowledge.
Cars: pg 167 Just reading the chemicals that come out of a car every time we turn it on and drive it around, and what exactly these do to your body, make me want to never touch my car again- but the way that we live makes that not an option for me unless I am able to have a complete lifestyle change.
Chapter 9:
Media: pg 179- “If cars were once sold primarily as the route to freedom, they are now as much marketed as the lifeboat in a sea of carjackings, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks.” The way cars are sold now target people’s fears as a selling point because cars are the number one cause of death.
Cars: pg 184- This statistic is literally terrifying: 206,000 injuries a year from car crashes result in fractures, spinal damage, brain damage and other horrific things. These injuries are completely life altering as well as avoidable if we just didn’t drive cars as often.
Culture: page 194- In our society “safer” means cool, let’s drive even more like idiots because now the car has better gadgets to save us when we really mess up. Instead of driving cautiously, more of us choose to take the safety features and push them to a dangerous limit being responsible for our own injuries and crashes. Pretty frustrating.
Chapter 10:
Culture: pg 207- the dip in car use in 2008 and 2009 was due to high gas prices but also a shift in lifestyle- more people decided to move to cities where there was enough easy and accessible public transportation that their lives were no longer quite as dependable on a car. This, although not ideal, I think is the ticket to Americans driving less in the future.
Cars: The rest of this chapter lists ways in which we can downsize driving, and in some instances eliminate driving all together. The car is incredibly expensive to purchase, maintain and to house and listed are some ways to cut the costs and save our future: for example buying already used cars, making a list of every time you use the car and trying to cut it down, or buy an electric car.
Media: Pg 223- Lutz and Lutz are urging the readers to stay informed via the newspapers and proposed legislation and do our part in demanding a new transit system. The most important point, I thought, was to really stress that funding for roads and personal car use systems go instead towards better public transit or research.
Question: Why was the international speed limit changed from 55 mph?
Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteCars: cars have “put a premium on speed and fostered the idea that convenience and efficiency should rule” (Lutz p 163) This is shown primarily through the way we eat and the fast food industry.
Culture: The culture of cars surrounding obesity and the sedentary lifestyle. People now drive a matter of seconds because it is “easier” than walking for a few minutes. This is a vicious cycle that leads to more driving because people become more obese and less able to even walk.
Media: The NY times showed, on page 175, that lowering the regulations on clean air could lead to thousands of deaths/year! its crazy that the media has been hiding this from the public for so long!
Chapter 9
Cars: Cars are super dangerous. Causing a huge amount of injures each year. According to the national spinal cord center ~4200 are paralyzed each year from car crashes! Along with 206,000 injuries per year!
Culture: The culture is shifting! As talked about on p 179, cars which were once seen as a way towards freedom, are now being advertised for their safety ratings and and “marketed as the lifeboat in a sea of carjackings, hurricanes and terrorist attacks”
Media: They rarely advertise how dangerous cars are through the media, and companies are always trying to prove that their car is the safest. Take GM for example, on p177 it talks about how their was concern amongst the public about SUV rollover and after finding this out GM published on their site the records of a test they had done to show how safe SUV’s are from rollovers. Interesting how they are always trying to make some money, even at the cost of peoples lives.
Chapter 10
Cars: The car has become a major expense for Americans, with the average american family spending $14,000 / year on their household car! Tying into media:, we are taught to look at costs on a short term basis, thinking monthly rather than yearly. Car’s are not advertised as the overall cost, rather the initial cost and the subsequent monthly payment. This helps the buyer feel like they can afford the car rather than being completely turned away by such a large sum of money.
Culture: The culture is changing towards smaller and more efficient cars in the wake of the environmental crisis. I liked how Lutz gave ways to save economically, while consequently being more environmental. i.e. downsize to a smaller car, donate your 3rd car to charity, buy a used car, use car-sharing systems, etc. Slowly but surly we are becoming more conscientious, whether the economy or the environment will make us do it first, only time will tell.
Chapter 8
ReplyDelete1. Lutz notes that Americans are becoming heavier due to prolonged car usage. Driving has replaced other means of active transportation, and become the norm for even short trips within walking distance. “Roughly 40% of U.S. adults could be labeled “sedentary” because they undertook no physical activity during their leisure time, and in the past two decades, the number of trips Americans take on foot has declined 42 percent.” This weight gain is actually increasing our car-related impacts, as many Americans upsize to “accommodate their girth” and it takes more fuel to carry the extra poundage.
2. Lutz addresses how “as our collective weight balloons, we also eat alone as a way to deal with the shame attached to eating food we know isn’t good for us”. Fast food is almost MEANT to be devoured quickly in the car; grabbing french fries two at a time with one hand while clutching a nugget in the other, dipping sauce perched precariously on your leg is classic behavior. We stay in our cars to eat, erasing even the walk to the cash register to pay and pick up our food.
3. Cars are associated with numerous long term negative health effects as well. “Cars and trucks produce five primary groups of pollutants: carbon monoxide; nitrogen oxides; toxins including benzene and volatile organic compounds or VOCs; ground-level ozone; and fine particulate matter”. These pollutants are associated with a host of health issues, including but not limited to a number of infections, an increased likelihood of heart disease, lung and other cancers, and asthma. In combination with the chemicals used during and after the cars production on the interior, our car is the most dangerous thing most Americans come into contact with on a daily basis.
Chapter 9
ReplyDelete1. The marketing of cars is increasingly targeting our desire for safety. They come with numerous safety and security features that are designed to insulate the driver from any realities of the road (but only in a mental sense). “If cars were once sold primarily as the route to freedom, they are now as much marketed as the lifeboat in a sea of carjackings, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks”.
2. Car crashes produce terrible outcomes, as any associated deaths are “unexpected, violent, and gory”. Unlike most illnesses, which have a slow onset and allow some degree of preparation, car crashes can happen to anyone, at anytime, on even the simplest of trips. Our own driving ability makes no difference if a second impaired driver is on the road.
3. Lutz interviews those who lost family members in car crashes, and produced some heart wrenching quotes. One woman remembers her brother, saying that “Sometimes I will think I’m living something extra for him. I’ll be driving someplace beautiful and think I should enjoy this twice over, for him. I shouldn’t lose opportunities because life is so short”. This especially resonated with me, as I thought about my own brothers, and what I would do if I received a call from home telling me one of them was no longer with us. Although it’s something nobody wants to seriously consider, we must always appreciate those around us.
Chapter 10
1. Although many understand the threat that the automobile poses to our future health, and can “agree that our car dependency threatens the values we cherish, we don’t want to give up our vehicles”. Americans will not consider completely relinquishing the automobile, despite the many risks associated with it.
2. Lutz considers solutions for the failures in our culture of automobility. One important one is encouraging future generations to embrace the value of physical motion. “Teach your children the importance of exercise, responsibility, independence, and/or ecological citizenship… by walking or biking to activities”. This will be not only good for our individual health, but our collective health as well.
3. Another solution Lutz mentions is to drive the speed limit, specifically when using cruise control. Using cruise control to maintain a steady speed “has been showon to improve gas mileage an average of 7%”. I have personally noticed this difference when making the 4 ½ hour drive home to Connecticut. When the cruise control is set at 65, I use noticeably less gas than when I drive faster.
Q. How can these solutions be broadcasted to the general public? Along the same lines, how can the general public be made to see the merits of such suggestions without reading the entirety of Carjacked? Are the incentives and education enough?
Chapter 8
ReplyDelete- A lot of this chapter deals with toxins released by cars. Lutz mentions a tollbooth operator on the Mass Pike who contracted cancer after constantly inhaling car fumes, but has to keep working her job to make money for treatment. Toxins contained within a car's materials, like PBDE flame-retardants, are also extremely harmful, and unknown to most drivers.
- Lutz brings up an internet poll conducted in 2003 concerning consumer trust. The results showed that car buyers believe in the safety of a corporately marketed vehicle, because the government must have permitted the marketing. These results demonstrate the consumer’s susceptibility to advertising as well as their own lack interest in researching car safety.
- Excessive car use is also linked to obesity. People are relying on their car as their sole means of transportation, but people are also making lots of spontaneous fast food excursions. Switching from driving to public transportation always improves health.
Chapter 9
- Lutz mentions the concept of “risk compensation” – people driving dangerously because they feel overly secure within the safety features of their car. She later mentions that automobile engineers could have this concept in mind. In the late 60’s, engineers and scientists began to focus on designing “safe to crash” vehicles.
- Lutz mentions an object that can be placed within a car to monitor how it is driven. This black box is mainly geared towards the monitoring of new, young drivers. Although many parents have the option of putting one in their car for free, they choose not to, because they’re afraid of offending their children. This device threatens the privacy and autonomy of the teen driver the same way traffic and safety laws threaten all drivers’ autonomies.
- Lutz believes that Hollywood representations of automobility persuade drivers into thinking that car danger doesn’t apply to them. It’s always villains who end up in crashes. She later mentions deeper psychological reasons for feeling inherent safety in vehicles – people feel safe in situations they control and choose to participate in.
Chapter 10
- Lutz encourages shopping on the internet to reduce car usage. I was surprised that this reduces an individual’s CO2 omissions, because I assumed that fuel burned during delivery would do similar amounts of damage. Sidenote: Even though more online shopping would lessen a driver’s love affair with their car, it takes away from the local culture and economy of that driver’s community.
- Lutz suggests that parents delay when their children start driving to lessen car usage. This would also ensure the safety of their children. Lutz mentions a quote from owner of one of the car-monitoring device companies, where he criticizes the driving aggression that he believes most teens act out.
- As another means of refraining from car use, Lutz suggests that drivers try to work at home more often. She cites driving to work as a reason for stress in the workplace.
Question
A lot of the suggestions Lutz makes about reducing car usage seem to come with consequences (e.x. working from home and shopping on the internet harms a person’s sense of place and their town’s culture and economy), or are not possible in some situations (e.x. public transit and carpooling)…. Aside from public transit improvements, etc…. how can we make driving less necessary in America?
Carjacking'ly excellent reflections here, colleagues!
ReplyDeleteRev. It. Up.
See you soon,
Dr. W
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ReplyDeleteIgnore the "comment...removed" comments. I accidentally posted details here when they were due for a different week.
ReplyDeleteChapter Eight
ReplyDeleteCars: “Cars affect our national and individual health in significant but invisible ways”(163). Without the automobile, we as a nation and race would live much healthier lives whether it’s out body or the environment.
Culture: Your car becomes a form of isolation. At drive through restaurants and fast food joints people have been seen to eat more often in their car. The car acts as a shell for people to not feel so shameful of eating at these places.
Media: “Lexus blames the victim- suggesting that the environment is attacking the car, rather than the other way around”(165). Here the car company is making it seem like they aren’t the bad guy, even though environmentally speaking, they almost always are.
Chapter Nine
Cars: Lutz and Lutz touch on page 179 that cars innately make people want to go fast, but with inadequate drivers and road conditions we often see terrible crashes and deaths as an outcome. We have to respect the power of the car and use it accordingly, not abusing its potential.
Culture: Our culture often finds the SUV a safe option to drive, but if everyone has one doesn’t that make it just equally as dangerous? Without SUVs on the road cars would still be the most dangerous means of transportation.
Media: Car crashes are often scenes in movies and television shows, depicting how great the impact of an event like that is. The car in situations like this can seem almost as important as a human.
Chapter Ten
Cars: Still using the assembly line technique today, River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan can make 432 F-150 trucks per eight hour shift. This is an incredible feat of production that grew up with the automobile and transformed as the car did.
Culture: We need to become a culture that diverts away from the SUV and turns our attention towards energy efficient vehicles. While large trucks and stage 3 tuned racing cars are a blast to drive, we have to realize what the bigger picture is and think about the planets health in the long term.
Media: Our media has to depict the image as energy efficient and smart as the “cool” thing to do while we rise to the environmental challenges we face. We need to “buy smart” as Lutz and Lutz say and not take advantage of the greatness of the automobile.