The War on Cars

Our final Life After Cars book tour roundup episode is here, with our reports from Atlanta, Memphis, Chicago, Montréal, Orlando, Portland, Maine, and many, many more great North American cities! We get into the good, the bad, and the ugly of everything we saw out there on the road. Plus a discussion of…Reverse Copenhagen Syndrome?
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Order our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Save 20% on everything in our official merch store with code HOTBIKESUMMER.
Buy a certified, pre-owned e-bike from Upway or sell your own bike! Visit Upway.co to get rolling.
Thanks also to Cleverhood. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get 15% off the best rain gear for walking and cycling.
TheWarOnCars.org

In most parts of the United States and elsewhere, sidewalks exist in a legal grey area. They are public spaces that, at least when it comes to things such as maintenance and snow removal, are largely the responsibility of private property owners. They are subject to all manner of laws that govern what kinds of activities can take place on them, laws that change not just from city to city, but sometimes from neighborhood to neighborhood, block to block, and address to address. They are also an important part of the transportation network and a key component in the effort to keep pedestrians safe, although certainly not a panacea, even in rural areas.
Michael Pollack, the author of an excellent new book, Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America's Most Overlooked Resource, thinks that sidewalks need a whole lot more consideration in legal and governing circles, and even goes so far as to advocate for the creation of a Department of Sidewalks that can cut through the rather opaque rules that govern these narrow strips of concrete. (Or other materials, given that many sidwalks are often governmed by historic preservation laws.)
***For an extended, ad-free version of this episode featuring a bonus conversation about sidewalk delivery robots, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.***
SHOW NOTES:
Buy Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America's Most Overlooked Resourc and support independent booksellers at our official Bookshop.org page.
Order our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Save 20% on everything in our official merch store with code HOTBIKESUMMER.
Buy a certified, pre-owned e-bike from Upway or sell your own bike! Visit Upway.co to get rolling.
Thanks also to Cleverhood. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get 15% off the best rain gear for walking and cycling.
TheWarOnCars.org

***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, presale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.***
The musical artist known as Pondless, who as a civilian goes by the name of Aaron Oliver, writes and performs pop songs about urban planning. If that sounds kind of out there, well, so is he, in the best way possible. We talked with him about why this country is divided into Houstons and New York Cities, why Boston does not exist, and how he came to write a love song to Robert Moses. 
Pondless is @itspondless on Instagram and TikTok. 
Our bestselling new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, published by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House, is available wherever books are sold.
www.thewaroncars.org

What should happen to drivers who kill or injure someone with their car? Does a focus on punishment for "reckless" or "dangerous" drivers let everyone else off the hook and never force them to look at the larger harms of a transportation system based around personal car ownership? Those are the questions asked by Ian Loader, a professor of criminology at the University of Oxford, who argues that the law's focus on "motonormative punishment" is just another way of masking the larger problems caused by a car-dominant society. In a new study, Professor Loader proposes a vastly different way of thinking about criminal punishment organized around five harm reduction principles. Plus, is it really wrong for news outlets to write headlines like "Pedestrian Hit By Car," or is there more to it than advocates are willing to admit? 
***Join The War on Cars on Patreon and listen to exclusive ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers!***
SHOW NOTES:
Read Professor Ian Loader's study, "Beyond Motonormative Punishment: On Road Safety as Environmental Regulation."
Curious about motonormativity? Listen to our episode with Dr. Ian Walker, who coined the term.
Learn more about the concept in our episode with Dr. Tara Goddard and our episode with Marco te Brömmelstroet.
Order our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Buy a certified, pre-owned e-bike from Upway and save $100 off any purchase of $800 or more with code TWOC100. Visit Upway.co to get rolling.
Thanks also to Cleverhood. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get 15% off the best rain gear for walking and cycling.
TheWarOnCars.org

What does it take to make a street safer for everyone? In the US, it typically requires a combination of tragedy, grassroots organizing, and political leadership. Even when these ingredients come together, success is never guaranteed, as so many projects become battles about more than just bike lanes. Changing Lanes, a new documentary from director Ben Wolf, covers the fight to make McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, safer following the tragic death of a beloved teacher at the hands of a hit-and-run driver. Featuring interviews with such notable figures as Janette Sadik-Khan and former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, Changing Lanes moves beyond bike lanes to tell a story that's very much made for this political and cultural moment. Wolf joins us along with advocates Bronwyn Breitner and Kevin LaCherra, as well as New York State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, to talk about how they fought to make McGuinness safe and the broader lessons they learned along the way.
***Join The War on Cars on Patreon and listen to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content,  invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers!***
SHOW NOTES:
Stream Changing Lanes on Amazon or Kanopy.
Watch the film's trailer.
Learn more about the film and request a screening at ChangingLanesDoc.com.
Read more about the Make McGuinness Safe campaign and learn about where the project stands today. 
Catch up on the corruption that led to a powerful family's downfall and the indictment of a top aide to Mayor Eric Adams, via Streetsblog.
Order our book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Buy a certified, pre-owned e-bike from Upway and save $100 off any purchase of $800 or more with code TWOC100. Visit Upway.co to get rolling.
Thanks also to Cleverhood. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get 15% off the best rain gear for walking and cycling.
TheWarOnCars.org