Cars
Basics
While Other Countries Mandate Safer Car Designs for Pedestrians, America Does Nothing
The regulators at the NHTSA have never gotten serious about adapting vehicle design to protect people outside cars, even as pedestrian deaths have soared.
December 7, 2017
Singapore Says No More Cars
While Singapore is unique in some respects, it's also responding to the same pressures that face any urbanized area of sufficient size. Cars don't fit.
October 24, 2017
We Know SUV Design Kills Pedestrians, But We Still Let Carmakers Sell Them
The same design features that kill and maim pedestrians are what automakers rely on to appeal to consumers.
October 19, 2017
The Joy and Freedom of a City Without Car Traffic
On Sunday, streets all over Paris belonged to people biking, walking, and riding transit.
October 2, 2017
How Ethical Is Your Driving?
Most of us who drive don't spend much time weighing the morals of our behavior as motorists, but we should. Otherwise, by the time the ethical implications of our behavior are clear, it's probably going to be too late.
July 14, 2017
What Comes After the Auto Bubble?
Vehicle travel in the United States has experienced a resurgence in the last two-and-a-half years, following an unprecedented decade-long per-capita decline in driving. Low gas prices are likely a big reason why; recent increases in incomes and employment as well. But an additional factor has been relatively unexplored: the effect of changes in credit markets on vehicle purchasing and ownership.
May 1, 2017
Tesla’s Parking Problem Says a Lot About Elon Musk’s Brand of Tech Saviorism
It's fitting that the Palo Alto headquarters for Elon Musk's flagship company, Tesla, has an epic logistical problem caused by the spatial inefficiency of its core product.
April 14, 2017
Remixing Great Masterpieces for the Highway Age
Last week we highlighted the Photoshop work of Memphis resident David Lindsey, who updated Georges Seurat's “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” to comment on the way cars have come to intrude on almost every public space. Lindsey was motivated by the decision to allow overflow parking from the Memphis Zoo in the city's historic Overton Park, but his concept quickly inspired activists in other cities.
March 14, 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