Car Sick

Lynn Sloman’s book, ‘Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture’ explains why we believe it is possible to change our travel behaviour.
Synopsis The twenty-first century is gridlocked. Mass motorisation has ruptured community ties, bankrupted tens of thousands of family shops, and bred a nation of obese children and adults. Politicians stumble from one transport crisis to the next. Car Sick: Solutions for Our Car-addicted Culture proposes a novel way forward – not through ‘big-bang’ civil engineering projects, but by getting people to think about their choices, rather than reaching for their car-keys. It shows how de-motorisation works: in place of traffic, it offers neighbourly streets and vibrant city centres. From small towns like Winterthur in Switzerland to the centre of London, de-motorisation is transforming urban surroundings. Copenhagen’s decision to create pedestrian streets in the city centre has made it an outdoor theatre, filled with celebration and spectacle, even in winter. We do not need to get rid of cars altogether. What we do need to do 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.

	Cars cause environmental destruction, provoke stress and tear the heart out of communities. Car Sick provides a page-turning account of how we got into this mess, and more importantly, charts an attractive way out. If you’ve got a car, read this book. It will change your views, and could change your life. Tony Juniper, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth

	Lynn Sloman has played a key role in making London the only major city in the world to achieve a ‘modal shift’ from car usage to buses, cycling and walking, and her fascinating new book makes an important contribution to the debate about where we go next. Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

	Transport isn’t working. Car Sick shows why, and sets out clearly what the answers are. A must-read for everyone interested in transport. Stephen Joseph, Executive Director, Transport 2000

	Lynn Sloman is known for her serious and careful studies of the impacts of transport policy initiatives. In this book she does something new: she treats changes in travel behaviour from the point of view of the individual and family. Her characters are real, named people – her friends, and neighbours, and associates - who live the pressures and constraints of everyday life in a car-dependent culture. She traces what happens when they have sought ways of leading a good life without a car, or using a car sparingly. This is transport planning with a human scale, with a necessary, thought-provoking and encouraging message. Professor Phil Goodwin, Professor of Transport Policy, Centre for Transport and Society, University of the West of England

Table of Contents Cars ’R’ Us Cars: the ultimate missed blessing Soft, small stubborn: principles of de-motorisation Soft solutions to de-motorise the rush hour Better public transport, or why buses run around empty Cycling without Spandex Grand design: the space between buildings Why the political system cannot tackle transport Learning not to drive What does the future hold? You can read Lynn’s article in the Guardian about ‘Car Sick’ here. Ordering details ISBN 1 903998 76 X £10.95 paperback 190 pages Published by Green Books You can buy a copy of Car Sick for £9.95 including postage and packing from the Guardian Bookshop.