ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the inconveniences of the car that are often overlooked in our enthusiasm for it and the values it represents, before going on to consider the issue of governance and cars. The dangers of driving are often elided in the general preference for the private car, and the dangers of other forms of transport exaggerated. Drivers are constructed as both rational and desiring and the conflict between the two is part of a social discourse of risk management. The fast pace at which many drivers travel small suburban streets where children are playing and people are walking creates a sense of violation and aggression. Even quiet suburban streets are still the province of cars not children, pedestrians or bicycles. 'Statistical determinism' uses quantification and numeracy in the planning and operation of 'the various socio-spatial practices included in the management and performance of road traffic and automobility'.
