ABSTRACT
Television images of protestors attaching themselves to trees in a vain attempt to prevent the destruction of woodland associated with the construction of the Newbury bypass graphically highlighted the ambivalent relationship which society has enjoyed with the motor car during the last one hundred years. Although protection of the environment was an issue with which many viewers could sympathise, the Newbury campaign was doomed because of the power of the motor vehicle lobby, including those members of the public who provided tacit support for the extension of the road network. The environmental influence of the motor car is perhaps most obvious in terms of land use with the construction of motorways, ring roads and parking areas. This trend has been particularly apparent in the United States where more land has been sacrificed to the car than to housing. The motor car has been responsible for traffic accidents resulting in millions of deaths and serious injuries, pollution of the atmosphere, extreme examples of aggressive behaviour and rapid depletion of some of the world's most precious natural resources.
